Reign of Winter
by BoyishVoid
Summary: Kings of Winter Rewrite. A Strong Powerful North, with minor changes and assumptions. What the North had the potential of being. M for the language.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I had hoped to finish the rewrite before I posted the story, but due to the exams and other distraction I was unable to meet that personal deadline. So I guess I will just post the chapters I have gone through. All constructive criticism is well come, so are reviews. Thanks

* * *

Brandon "The Builder" sighed in exhaustion at his table in his tent. He has barely gotten a wink of sleep in the past moons, completing all of the numerous tasks before the next winter came. However, he swelled up in pride thinking of all he had accomplished in the past 9 moons after the War for the Dawn. The Stark family line was secure with his wife Snowdrop, a Child of the Forest, being pregnant with his heir.

Brandon rubbed his tired eyes, beforing standing up to his full height and stretching, showing off his well built body. Brandon was a handsome man, with dark brown hair and slightly long face of his father, Brandon "The Bloody Blade" but the silver grey eyes of his mother Artemis, a goddess of the Hunt, Moonlight, and Snow. Her godly essence empowered Brandon to be superior than most men. He stood at a proud height of 160 cm tall, taller than the average height of 150 cm, his broad shoulders and well muscled body forged by battles against the White Walkers and his time in the forge, with his grey clothing and wolf fur cloak only complemented his handsome features. While he was stronger, larger, and more skilled than most men, it was his genius level intellect that truly set him apart from the others.

He walked out of the tent into the cold clear air of the North and smiled as he saw his greatest accomplishment. The Wall was being raised in defense against the White Walkers inevitable return. The Wall was a construct of pure ice traversing nearly 500 km from the Gorge to the Bay of Seals. The Wall was currently planned to go up only 100 meters but there was a lot of room for expansion. There were thousands of Giants, First Men, and Children of the Forest all working arduously to have it completed.

Brandon made his way towards the Wall, where the command tent was set up. The leaders of the First Men, Giants, and the Children of the Forest discussed the future in that tent. As soon as he entered the tent, all of the beings quieted down and watched as he took a seat at the head of the table.

Brandon said "My Magnars and allies, the construction of the Wall is underway and is already a formidable obstacle. I foresee that in a dozen years of hard work, the foundation should be completed. We should now complete our discussion for the future."

The massive Giant King Mag Mun Dag Sog or King Mag spoke in his deep loud voice, "The Giant clans have convened and are ready to swear fealty to you King Stark. Your leadership and achievements against the White Walkers is uncontested. As long as the Starks remain a strong just capable leaders, the Giants are happy to follow."

Brandon replied "Thank you King Mag. Your words mean much to me."

"It is no longer King, King Stark"

"Very well, I will raise you as House Giantsarm, High Magnar of the Giants. May your and your house's loyalty never waver."

Then it was Leaf's, the oldest Child of the Forest, turn to speak. "King Brandon, you and your father have proven to us that not all men are like the ones we have fought for generations. You have beaten back our greatest shame and do not hold us in contempt for our mistakes. The Council of the Forest has convened and are willing to bend the knee to you."

"Thank you Leaf, your kind means much to me and my men. You are the connection to our gods and the family of my wife. I gladly welcome you as the High Magnar of the Children of the Forest."

When Brandon turned to the giant of a man with light brown hair, who boisterously laughed and said "Ever since your father beat mine in a wrestling match and your great accomplishments in the war, House Umber stays loyal vassals to House Stark."

"Thank you, Jon."

"That goes for House Reed as well, King Brandon. As long as the Children of the Forest and House Reed has protection from House Stark, we will be loyal vassals." said the small man with nutty brown hair.

"House Reed has been a great vassal to House Stark, High Magnar Jojen. House Stark will keep to their oaths." replied Brandon.

Finally the average sized but very hairy man said "House Mormont has followed House Stark up North, we will not abandon House Stark now."

"House Mormont has been the greatest vassals House Stark could have ever hoped for. You will be rewarded." said Brandon, pushing him to sit up a little higher he continued "We must now decide what to do. The War for the Dawn is over but there is much work to do. The North is divided and we are faced with jealous enemies from all sides. House Stark will not gain support from any of the Houses in the south as they resent the fact that my grandfather, Garth 'the Greenhand', came up North in his final years. We must carve and claim the land quickly. We are currently at an advantage of numbers but that will not last long. High Magnar Umber, you may take your man back to your home and establish your borders. Be sure to not overextend yourself, we can not afford such silly mishaps. That goes to you as well High Magnar Reed, you may go back to the Neck as the High Magnar of the Neck. You are to take control of the entire region and begin to grow you strength. What are your plans High Magnar Leaf, and High Magnar Mag?"

High Magnar Mag began first "We are a nomadic folk, King Stark. We seek to bring all of our kin and mammoths down below the Wall and allow them to roam and graze."

"Very well, High Magnar Mag. I name you High Magnar of the Giants may you and your sons rule the Giants forever. I give you leave to herd the Mammoths and lead your nomadic tribe all across the North. As long as you are not causing any damage you are allowed to use all of the North as your grazing grounds."

"Thank you King Stark"

"What would you like to do High Magnar Leaf?"

"The Children of the Forest would like to go back into the Wolfwood and raise a grand settlement for the Children of the Forest."

"That is reasonable, you may have a part of the Wolfwood near where winter fell, to build your settlement. May you and your children, forever be known as High Magnar of Elisleaf!"

"Your grace, may I ask what will become of House Mormont?" asked Magnar Damon Mormont.

"Do not fear Magnar Mormont, I have plans for your lands. But until then I wish for you to stay with House Stark."

"As you command your grace."

"I have decided that House Stark shall raise its fortress on the lands where winter itself fell, and be forever known as Winterfell to remind everybody the valiance and nobility of our warriors. I have also sent out many scouting parties beyond the Wall to bring all other first men clans of the North below the wall as long as they are willing to swear themselves to House Stark."

"That is a brilliant idea your grace." said High Magnar Reed.

"Good, all of you are dismissed."

* * *

Brief excerpt of the timeline of the North, in the Encyclopedia, _the History of the Kingdom of the North._

 **0 year After the Wall:** Brandon "The Builder" builds the Wall. Rickard "Strong Wolf" is born to Brandon "The Builder" and Snowdrops. All inhuman traits of the Children of the Forest is avoided in Rickard "Strong Wolf". Only explanation seems to be due to the godly blood flowing through the Stark Line, only change into the Stark appearance is the addition of slightly bigger eyes and greater sight at night. He gives the option for all of the First Men tribes of the North to come south and bend the knee to him in return for land and titles. All sentient beings agree, just having experienced a great massacre by the Night King. The Giants brings herds of mammoths and aurochs down from Beyond the Wall. Many clans came from beyond the Wall and were formed into Houses.

 **1 year After the Wall:** Brandon "The Builder" after large payments by House Hightower lays plans for Hightower in Oldtown, one of the oldest towns in the world, for money and experience in architecture.

 **3 years After the Wall:** House Towers is overthrown by House Greywolf for control of the Stony Shore, as Magnar Ignotus Greywolf wargs into one of the last Sea Dragon ever to be seen, to completely destroy House Towers.

 **5 years After the Wall:** Brandon "The Builder" lays the plans for Storm's End for the money and experience working with magic of the Children of the Forest into buildings. Torhen "The Wise Wolf" is born to Brandon "The Builder" and Snowdrops. A great friendship between King Brandon "The Builder" Stark and King Durran "The God's Grief" Durrandon is formed. King Durran, with the help of King Brandon is able to win favour with the gods, by completing the task set out by the God of the Sea Neptune and Goddess of the Wind Freya to marry their daughter Goddess of Storms Elenai. House Stark and House Durrandon would have strong relationships due to this and House Durrandon is one of the few non-northern houses House Stark would marry.

 **6 years After the Wall:** Brandon "The Builder" lays the plans for Winterfell using his ingenuity to create piping the hot springs to warm his castle. The Giants and mammoths for hard labour for the first time in the creation of a fortress. Building towers as tall and strong as Hightower, with magic weaved into the very stones like Storm's End creates the outline of a very mighty castle.

 **10 years AW:** Brandon "The Builder" completes the base of Hightower, leaving the rest to Hightower as the instructions are very clear and could be completed by themselves. House Hightower is happy to let Brandon leave so that they may add hidden passages and secrets into their castle.

 **12 years AW:** Storm's End foundation and base has been built by House Stark. The magic has already been weaved and is resistant to the magic of the Storm God. This builds a very strong relationship between House Durrandon and House Stark. The base of the Wall is complete and one of Brandon's last accomplishments as king is the foundation of the Night's Watch.

 **15 years AW:** Brandon "The Builder" dies of old age. The great funeral saw many Kings and Magnars come from all of Westeros to mourn for the loss of the great king. The crypts are built by the Rickard "Strong Wolf" with Garth "The Greenhand" (One of two only none Starks to ever be buried in the crypt), Brandon "The Bloody Blade" and Brandon "The Builder" inside.

* * *

The Crowned Prince Rickard was a strong fighter, great war-time leader, and brilliant strategist, but lacked finesse at negotiations and the skill and patients in running a country on a daily basis. His younger brother Prince Torrhen while a moderately skilled fighter, preferring the dual wielding style, was excellent in the field of diplomacy, economics, ruling the small folk, and running a country.

Together they formed a formidable team, allowing each other to flourish in their respective area. Prince Rickard fought with the standing army, fighting back barbarians and bandits. He gained a reputation and moniker of the Strong Wolf. While his younger brother slowly took control of the finances from his father and nearly doubled the amount of money being raised by House Stark earning his nickname as the Wise Wolf.

* * *

On King Brandon's death bed, he looked upon his two sons and said "My sons, you will have many enemies in your quest of uniting the North and the Neck. But together and only together, will you be able to accomplish such a dream. When you are together, you will able to beat the Red King, Warg King, Barrow King, Glovers, Ryders and all the other Petty Kings that control the North. I see a great future for House Stark and you must make your mark." and with those words the King of Winter, King Brandon "The Builder" Stark died at the age of 55.

* * *

In his honor, the two brothers built the Great Crypts of Winterfell and buried King Brandon II next to his father and grandfather, with a replica crown and an iron Greatsword, starting a tradition that will last for many millenniums. They then held a great funeral inviting even the rival kings. Every king but the Barrow King and the Red King of the North attended, accepting bread and salt and sealing their guest rights.

The ceremony was a mournful affair, as even the rival kings agreed that a great man had been ripped from the world.

* * *

King Rickard planned to begin his conquest of the North with an attack on the Barrow Kings. He ironed out his father's rough plans, deciding to use the Barrow Kings as an example of House Starks power. The Amberstin were one of the most powerful Houses in the North and King Rickard was angry at the slight the Barrow Kings had cause when they had not attended his father's funeral.

The plan involved the Reeds attacking and harassing the Barrow King and his vassals. When they get angry enough, they were going to lead the men into the swamps where they would be destroyed. While the Barrowmen are getting destroyed in the swamps of the neck, the Starks would move in with their men and pick off the remainder. The Umbers would be left to guard their border with the Red King, although it is very unlikely that they will attack due to the threat of the Hornwoods. With the Giants and the mammoths at their disposal, their goal should be easily accomplished, and if their bait works it should happen with minimum losses.

Sending a raven to the Umbers and a messenger to the Reeds, the vassals were informed of his plans, and two raven arrived two weeks later with their agreement. The Umbers informed King Rickard, that they would be ready to defend the border within two moons and the Reeds replied that they would be ready in 3 moons.

* * *

Four moons had passed, the Stark men were ready to for the message from the Reeds saying that the Barrowmen were moving toward the Neck. The men were training to gain an advantage, the Giants were riding atop the enormous mammoths, and the Children were ready to enact their vengeance upon the men that burned their Weirwood trees.

* * *

King Rodrick Amberstin was a smart man. He could tell the Starks were setting him up to a trap. However, no matter how smart the Amberstin's were, their bannermen would revolt soon should they do not act. He knew if he attacked the Reeds, the Stark would come in and take their crown. All of his Magnars, in their anger and pride, will send all of their men on this attack against to the Neck leaving the Barrowlands wide open. Yet, if he did not act, his line would be overthrown and replaced and he could not allow that his proud legacy to fall.

So he walked down from his solar and called for a messenger "Inform my bannermen that they are to bring their men here in a month's time. I am going to destroy those damned crannogmen."

* * *

Barrowton was bustling with activity, men were being drilled and the Magnars and their king are conducting a war council.

Magnar Brandon Dustin said "How about we seem weak baiting the damned Reed to attack us, and when they deploy their full force we come in and destroy them with ours. These crannogmen are not meant for real combat. The only thing they can do is harass our units."

King Rodrick replied "That is a commendable idea, but we still face the problem of the Starks."

Magnar Cregan Downwood said "Please, the pup will go to support the Reeds rather than attack our lands. He is inexperienced and even if he does not, he has to worry about the damned Boltons. Besides, those fucking crannogmen killed my men and I will retaliate in full!"

The other Magnars roared in approval and King Amberstin knew there was no way to stop this.

Sighing quietly King Rodrick said, "Very well, but know that I have tried to warn you. We leave in a week's time! Prepare the men!"

* * *

Magnar Downwood was playing the part of the bait, leading the crannogmen to their death. He was quite happy with this plan. It used an apt amount of deception but also had a brutal simplicity. Before he could continue this line of thought he saw the men in front of the vanguard dropping to the ground lifelessly. They each had an arrow stuck out of their neck and he could see more arrows coming.

He screamed "FORM RANKS! MAKE THEM USE THEIR ENTIRE FORCE! AND GET A MESSENGER TO OUR KING!"

His men scrambled around to follow their orders. They hastily brought up their shields and tried their best to block the arrows and poisoned darts flying towards them. The designated messengers quickly got on their horses and rode off to inform the king. Magnar Downwood nodded grimly, now they just had to wait for the main force to arrive. He ran to pick up his shield and ran behind a cart to use it as cover.

* * *

King Rodrick rode atop his horse, slowly marching their way to the vanguard. When they saw a figure from the distance road towards them. The men gripped their weapons tightly, ready to attack in a moments notice.

When the rider got close he said "The Crannogmen are here!"

King Rodrick smiled, he could go home quickly before they got attacked by the Starks, he looked at their men and said "Well let's trap some crannogmen! Magnar Dustin, you shall lead the men to attack them from the back when they retreat! I shall lead the men in attacking them from the front! Move!"

King Rodrick rode ahead to kill those damned Crannogmen so they may never bother House Amberstin again. Part of his men split up to follow Magnar Dustin. He knew that they had to move quickly or they will be taken advantage of by the Starks, so he pushed his men forward faster.

Within an hour they meet up with the bait force. They were being shot up with arrows and blow darts with many dead littering the field. The men screamed and charged forward the Crannogmen. As soon as the Crannogmen saw the real army, they turned and rode back towards the Neck. The more heavily armoured Barrow men could not catch up, but with their blood and hearts racing they could run for longer, leading them to ignore the exhaustion they should be feeling.

King Rodrick knew that the men that he sent ahead's would be able to stop them. Afterwards, he would take his men back to the castle leaving his bannermen to do whatever they want with the Reeds.

* * *

Just as the Crannogmen began to approach the swamps of the Neck, his flanking force charged at the Crannogmen from the other side. It looked like it would be a massacre and the perfect trap. The Crannogmen was nearly perfectly bottled up and were unable to escape from the encirclement. But just as the first Crannogmen began to fall the ground began to shake. The men looked around in shock quickly turning their heads to see a very terrifying sight. Out of the swamps came a dozen Giants. The men came to a grinding halt and stared up in awe and fear, as the Giants came charging. Realizing that they were the target of the Giants, the men tried to run away, but with their exhaustion they were not able to make it very far. Four of the Giants and the Crannogmen took care of the men that were attempting to hide in the Neck and the nine other giants charged the men.

No matter how fast they ran a man, especially a man who was running for an hour, can't outrun a giant three times his size. The giants swung their mighty arm wielding massive clubs. They knocked away dozens of men with a single swing, killing or incapacitating them. King Rodrick, the other lords and higher ranked men riding on horses was barely able to ride away leaving behind the majority of his forces.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So a few select people have been getting their fucking panties in a twist cause of the fact that I chose to restart the story by deleting the chapters and reposting them. So here is my response to **Mr. Soze** and to a much smaller degree **trollzor69**. If you think your opinion matters enough that I will change my method you have to get your head out of your ass. The sole reason why I chose to do it this way is cause I am too fucking lazy and suck at coming up with names and titles. So instead I chose to go with this title. If you have got a problem I don't give a shit, stop reading and move on. I aint going to make you read, so don't to me bitching, cause I don't care.

And to **justinmil22,** I chose to use the name Artemis cause once again I suck at coming up with names. You are the person that chose to think that even though this is a completely different world, with completely different rules for the Gods, chose to think that Artemis of my world is the same as the Greek Gods. They are not. If that bothers you so much, stop reading and move on. I don't care. I will be doing that for future characters, and if it bothers you don't read.

Also since I forgot last chapter disclaimer: Obviously this isn't my own original story, hence why it is called a fanfic.

* * *

King Rodrick rode back to Barrowton and made his way to the gates of Barrow Hall. It was an hour ride at full pace. He ordered the gates to open but was shocked and very angry when the gate remained firmly shut.

He shouted upwards, "I am the king, let me in!"

The men atop the wall yelled back "You're no king of mine!"

"YOU DARE QUESTION ME! I AM THE BARROW KING RODRICK OF HOUSE AMBERSTIN, SECOND OF MY NAME! WHEN I GET THROUGH I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD!"

Before he could continue to berate and scream at the man, a crisp but loud voice cut him off "You will do no such thing. I am King Rickard of House Stark, first of my name, High Magnar of Winterfell, King of Winter and the North, High King of the First Men, the Children of the Forest, and the Giants. My men have captured this castle and the two other important keeps in the Barrowlands. Your men have been killed or routed. They were most inexperienced at fighting the Giants. I am not a cruel man. I will not wipe out a House without just cause, so I will give you a choice. Bend the knee, give me your crown, and I will let you continue to be High Magnar of the Barrowlands, return your lands stronger than it ever was on your own, just like the Reeds are the High Magnar of the Neck, and the Numbers are the High Magnar of Last Hearth. You have till dawn to decide."

"I DON'T NEED TILL DAWN YOU CUNT. YOU UPSTARTS THINK YOU CAN TAKE MY ANCESTOR'S LANDS FROM ME! THIS IS MY BIRTHRIGHT! I AM AN AMBERSTIN, YOU BEST REMEMBER. I HAVE BEEN IN THESE LANDS LONG BEFORE YOU FILTHY SOUTHERNERS, AND WE WILL STAY LONG AFTER YOU. I DEMAND A TRIAL BY COMBAT. MAY THE OLD GODS DECIDE WHO IS MORE WORTHY TO BE KING!"

"Very well, if you wish for the doom of your entire family so be it. I accept you challenge. I will see you at the Godswood at dawn. Ready yourself Amberstin, for you are about to meet our gods."

Rickard turned around and walked out of view with Rodrick still screaming bloody murder.

* * *

Rickard sat by the Weirwood tree praying and preparing himself as Rodrick and his party entered the clearing. When Rodrick descended from his horse, Rickard stood.

"This is your last chance Amberstin. Bend the knee."

"I will never to the likes of you, Stark."

"Very well."

The two men began to shed their armour and cloak handing the items to their Bannermen to hold. Both men then carefully took off their crowns and handed it off to their Bannermen, who would protect it for their king. The Starks had a crown of copper which had a snarling wolf head surmounted with bronze spikes in the likeness of longswords, carved runes of the First Men. The Amberstin had a circuit crown with runes of the First Men carved on with an amber stone embedded.

Both men drew their weapons, King Rickard preferring to use the Celestial Bronze Greatsword Ice, whilst King Rodrick preferred a more classic longsword and shield. Clad in only pants, both men began to circle each other with men from each party forming a large arena to fight in. The face carved into the Weirdwood watching on as the two men began their fight to the death.

Rickard tested Rodrick's defences with a quick jab. Rodrick brought his shield around to block with ease, following up a sideways slash of his own. Rickard calmly tilted his head back and allowed the blade to cut through the air. With that quick encounter both fighters got much more serious. Rickard attack with strong quick attacks, using his reach and stronger build with great efficiency. Rodrick fought in a reactive style, using his shield to block his opponent's attack and immediately counter attacking. This lead to the fight being heavily speed based, where Rickard attack in a flurry of attacks to break through Rodrick's shield wall and having to quickly dodge and block Rodrick's counter attack. They traded hundreds of clashes, just waiting for the other to slip up and make a mistake which the other could exploit.

Rickard made the first slip up, not being able to pull back fast enough to fully dodge a slash at the cheek and ending up with a cut on his cheek. Rickard quickly made it up as Rodrick moved to attack with a follow up. Rickard sidestepped and return a jab of his own and cut the Rodrick's thigh, comboed with a punch at Rodrick's jaw forcing him to reel back, giving Rickard some room to wield Ice. Rodrick attempted to close the distance by using the shield to charge at Rickard but Rickard saw it coming, side stepped out of the way and slashed at Rodrick's back landing another blow, leaving Rodrick to scream in pain. The men that surrounded the arena began to chant, making deep war cries and smashing their weapons against their shields or the ground, starting of very quiet at first but building to a very loud war chant.

Rodrick bit through the pain and gets back into his fighting stance. Both fighters looked like ethereal warriors, as their steam could be seen rising from their bodies. Rickard charges Rodrick and attacks in a flurry of blows attacking from all angles. Rodrick performed admirably for fighting with an injury on both the back and leg, but for every attack he blocked and for every hit he absorbed the force travels straight towards the wounds, slowing his body and reaction time. In the end, Rodrick was unable to react fast enough to block the slash to the gut. The chanting stopped and Rodrick fell to his knees.

The clearing which was once full of life and noise was deadly silent except for the deep gasping for breath of the two warriors. Rickard then swung his arm back and beheaded Rodrick leaving his blood to soak the Weirwood tree. Rickard then turned around to the men and found them all on their knee, even the Amberstin Magnars and men.

Rickard retrieved his cloak and threw it on, as well as putting on his crown, before turning to the Amberstin Magnars and saying "I am not a cruel man. You are loyal bannermen who just followed your liege. That is completely understandable. I will not have you executed, sent to the Wall, or take you titles and land. As long as you swear fealty to a High Magnar of the Barrowland, who will then swear fealty to me. I will even allow you to choose your new High Magnar."

The three Magnars look among themselves and the choice was obvious. House Dustin was the second most powerful House in the Barrowlands, with Magnar Dustin also being the most intelligent and capable commander.

Magnar Downwood stepped forward and bent the knee to Magnar Dustin and swore his vows, which were followed by Magnar Howl. Magnar Dustin then turned to King Rickard and kneeled.

"I, Magnar Brandon Dustin, first of my name, pledge myself and my house to Winterfell. We pledge the faith of Barrow Hall. Hearth and harvest and I yield up to you, your grace. Our swords, spears and arrows are yours to command. Grant mercy to our weak, help to our helpless, and bring justice to all, and we shall never fail you."

"I, King Rickard Stark, pledge to grant mercy to your weak, help your helpless, and give justice to all. I accept your oaths, rise as High Magnar Dustin of the Barrowlands."

"Your grace, may I ask what will happen to the Amberstin line. King Rodrick Amberstin had a son and two girls."

"You will most likely want your heir to marry one of the Amberstin girls another girl will be married into the Stark line. Although, you have the closest blood relation to House Amberstin it is not very close. All males of House Amberstin, shall join the Night's Watch and take up the honorable task of watching for the Night King's return or face Ice. The other girls will have a happy marriage granted to a noble vassal of House Stark. Your family line will need to be added into the Stark family line in the next four generations."

* * *

With the Dustin's as their vassals, House Stark was recuperating. House Stark was not the only that went to war. House Bolton, the Red King of the North, attacked the Hornwoods and vassalized them. With House Stark at war they had not needed to worry about a surprise attack from the west. The Glovers were raided by the mountain clans after fighting the Greenwoods and Blackwoods, and the Warg King and the Ryswell went to war. It ended with the Warg King Gaven Greywolf capturing the entire Stoney Shore declaring himself King of the Stony Shore.

House Stark kept their promise to House Dustin by fortifying Barrow Hall adding new towers and strengthening the walls. Then with the aurochs, they feed their men meat and leaving behind salted meet so they could bring their populations up. This would lead to House Stark having the most amount of men compared to all the other Northern Kings.

* * *

Five years have passed since the assimilation of the Dustins. House Stark once again brought up their levy numbers to near max capacity. The Dustins has also recovered with most of their levies back up. The Reeds had recovered the few crannogmen that they had lost and the Umbers did not lose a single men whilst guarding as they were not attacked. King Rickard Stark was no longer doubted by his bannermen as being weak. He has proven himself in battle and conquest of the Old Way. King Rickard Stark married Lyanna Amberstin to bring them fully into the fold. This would start the Stark tradition of wedding the daughter of conquered Kings, and talented men and women into the Stark line.

Prince Torrhen married Alyssa Reed, a skilled in fighting with a trident and net, and very proficient in shooting blow darts. As the land near the White Knife was unclaimed, he went to where the White Knife met the river coming from the Wolfswood. This would serve as the last stronghold defense against pirates coming up North through the White River all the way to Winterfell.

He settled there as a small volcano had erupted there and using the newly created hots springs. He created the House Whitestark and raised a moderate sized keep named Whitehall. The sigl was a white direwolf running across a black field. He brought settlers over with the promise of new land to farm and allow cattle to graze. Because of Prince Torrhen's gift in economics and trade, he immediately capitalized on the volcano trading away the dragon glass, using it to warm his castle, and to warm the glasshouses. The volcanic heat would later be used to forge metal better and more efficiently.

In retaliation, House Bolton settled near the unclaimed lands on the south coast of the Bay of Seals. The settlement was in land by a small river, in the wood. It was not a great castle but it allowed the Bolton claim on the nearby land, thus colonizing another part of the North.

King Rickard planned another invasion but this time attacking the Ryswell. They never fully recovered from the Greywolf's attack. Although the Warg King was also hurt from the war, they were not as hurt as the Ryswell were. Once again the Umber men were used to man the borders, with the Reeds providing assistance this time due to the assimilation of the Hornwoods. With the combined forces of House Giantsarm, Dustin, and Stark the weakened Ryswell quickly gave up their crown. There was no noteworthy battle. Once seeing the superior numbers and the Giants atop Mammoths, House Ryswell knew they were out matched. To keep their family line safe, they gave up their crown after hearing about the fate of House Amberstin. In return House Stark raised them to the High Magnar of the Rills.

House Stark began to invest in House Ryswell's horse breeding, gifting them strong mounts and money to allow them to grow to be one of the best horse breeders in the world. They then began work on Castle Rills, strengthening it and making it much harder to take.

* * *

House Glover meet the same fate as House Ryswell. They had just beaten the Greenwoods, wiping out the mainline and only allowing a small offshoot House survive, expelling House Blackwood from the North, who would go down to the Riverlands and conquer a piece for themselves, but doing so left the weak. Just strong enough to go into revolts or lose control of their lands, but definitely not strong enough to fight the Giants and waves of Stark men. Especially after being raided by the mountain clans for so long. House Glover also lost their crown and became the High Magnar of the Wolfwood.

For their crown, House Stark revamped Deepwood Motte. The wood walls and keep were torn down and replaced with stone. It would be made into a major castle of the North. The hill was made steeper with a moat being added. They doubled the strength of the keep, earning the gratitude of House Glover.

King Rickard traded away furs and food for the land of Wolfwood containing the largest forest of Ironwood. He then gifted it to House Forrester, who seeked refuge and seeked for protection in return of becoming their vassals. They were the branch House of House Greenwood and they had mastered the use of Ironwood. A special type of wood as hard as iron, could deflect bronze swords with ease and it was very difficult to burn. Only a Forrester knew how to burn Ironwood and when it lit, it would light into a bright blue flame burning hotter than normal wood. House Forrester would guarded this secret to their death, protecting the wealth and secret of House Forrester. House Highpoint will spend generations attempting to steal the knowledge but will never managing. With the monopoly of the Ironwood, House Forrester grew in power and used the wood and money earned to raise Ironrath. A castle made from stone and Ironwood, it was a testimony of House Forrester's skill with the hardest wood in existence. They traded away items made from such as ironwood shields, furniture, and etc.

* * *

Another 2 years has passed and King Rickard Stark used the time to prepare for what would be their greatest challenge yet in their conquest of the North, the Warg King Gavin Greywolf. He was the most human powerful warg, controlling a great bear and was a renowned fighter. He was undefeated in single combat and has successfully won a war against the House Ryswell, proving his salt as a battle commander. His keep was in Sea Dragon Point and he held the title, the King in the Stoney Shore. He had the strongest human wargs within his army and would control many animals to fight for them. When a warg enters the mind of an animal, the mind is strained, but the body is at rest. So they could fight as animals then switch out and fight as a man. This gave the Warg King a major boon, as it greatly increased their fighting number without risking men.

King Rickard was greatly aware of this fact and was considering different methods to conquer the Warg King. He was in a war council with all his High Magnars discussing the different possibilities. Not one person could come up with a decent solution. They had more men, better equipment and the Giants as well, but the Warg King had the ability to constantly harass and attack their men. This would greatly lower the moral of the soldiers and lower the amount of men that would reach the Warg King.

As the different High Magnars were arguing, High Magnar Whitestark spoke up, and said, "Why don't we ask the Children of the Forest to help us. They might have a way to help us."

Realizing the potential of what his brother was suggesting, King Rickard Stark called for a messenger to retrieve the High Priest of the Children of the Forest.

* * *

The Children of the Forest are humanoid, but when grown to adulthood most were no taller than a human child. Their facial features are very rounded and soft. They have disproportionately large and expressive cat like eyes, which are set wider in their face than would be normal for a human child of the same height. Ironically they can live for much longer periods than the average men. The High Priest Tree was already 205 years old. He was made the High Priest, due to his gift in magic and his connection to the Old Gods. His real name was not Tree, but he was called that by the First Men as they can not speak the True Tongue.

King Rickard asked "Could the Children of the Forest help us fight the Warg King? I am a powerful warg, but he is even more powerful than I. Once they are in their animal, the only way to cut the connection is to kill the animal or kill the warg."

"That is not true. A warg could enter an animal being controlled by another warg and rip the connection away from them. You would need to be a far more powerful warg. However, this is not a concern, as currently even the weakest Children would be more powerful than a human warg. Although, that will most likely soon change as the First Men are becoming more connected to the Old Gods. Your families affinity to magic will most likely increase the most, as House Stark is already been touched by the Old Gods, judging by your gift in the elemental magics. But either way, we can take control of the animals and prevent them from attacking your men."

"Good, that will make things far easier."

High Magnar Whitestark replied, "So we have a plan."

"I hope so. However, I can't have the Starks attacked by the Boltons behind the back. Which brings me to my next point. You shall rule in my stead. You are to take control of half your men and most of the Umber men. Guard our borders, keep the small folk happy, and put down any revolts."

"Again? I am being left to guard again! This would be the fourth time!"

"I know Tor, but you have done a great job before and not only that but your skills aren't in battle. Mine is, yours is in the administration aspect. Remember what our father said, we must stick to our strengths and work together. I need you to trust me."

"Fine Rick, I will do this for you. But damn you to hell, for making me do this."

"Don't worry Tor, I will have this war finished in no time."

* * *

King Rickard lead his army toward the peninsula of Sea Dragon Point. There he saw the Warg King's army. This was to be the strangest fight in all of Westeros. The battle was to be between the First Men, Giants, Children of the Forest, and many different animals. House Stark opted to not bring any beasts with them, in case the Warg King ripped the control of them away.

Both armies set up camp and King Rickard Stark rode out under the banner of truce to King Gaven Greywolf to discuss ending the battle before it even starts.

King Rickard spoke first "We can end this without any bloodshed. You only need to bend your knee."

King Gavin Greywolf snorted and replied "Why should I bend the knee to a weak wolf like you. The Greywolves is more powerful the Stark."

"I have more men, I have the Giants, and the Children of the Forest backing me. While you have less men and only animals on your side."

"Blah, don't act like you have a massive advantage over me, Stark. You know that we are evenly matched. No matter how strong the Giants are, they cannot fight five bears at once. I see you were smart enough not to bring the mammoths."

"I see, does this mean that you won't be surrendering?"

"No, I will not bend the knee."

"Very well." said King Rickard, who got back on his horse and rode off.

* * *

The following evening, King Rickard gathered his Magnars and said "We are going to attack them just before the animals to go to sleep. Surprise their beasts. Shoot flaming arrows, make loud noises. The more the animal is scared, confused, or angry, the more difficult they are to control."

High Magnar Umber then said "Why do we have to do that? The Children are here to combat the wargs, why not use them right away?"

"If we show all of our tricks too quickly, we will have no surprises for the Warg King, while he will have all the surprises for us."

High Magnar Ryswell said "But if we capture the Warg King here, wouldn't the fight be over? We have an opportunity here!"

"No! We will not be betting on a single trick. If we don't win the war will drag out for decades. They won't face it an open battle once they know that they can't use the animals openly."

* * *

With Torrhen Whitestark gone, the after morning the parley, House Stark attacked the Grey Wolf in surprise, starting the legendary War of the Wolves. The Starks rained fire down upon the men and the animals. The animals immediately freaked out rampaging across the camps. Half of the powerful wargs were able to control their animals but the other animals trampled and killed many men.

King Gaven realizing the threat shouted "FORM RANKS! THE STARKS ARE COMING!"

As soon as he said that, men charged through into their camps. The very first ironwood shields was proving useful for the front ranks in deflecting arrows. The men broke through the barely formed ranks like a knife carving meet. King Gaven commanded his bear to attack the Stark men, obliterating many.

King Rickard's plan worked a little too well. The crazed animals started to attack all men, not being merely focused upon attacking the Greywolves but the Starks as well. The giants focused on the big animals like bears and boars while the men focused on the small animals like eagles.

The battle lasted the entire morning with the Starks slowly gaining ground. The crazed animals were killed by the first hour. The other animals were killed by the third hour and the Greywolf men were pushed back by mid day. It was not to say the Starks had an easy battle. High Magnar Reed gained a battle scar with a dozen giants and thousands of Stark men dead.

King Rickard himself slew many enemies. He fired blast, waves, and shards of ice, as well as slashing with his greatsword.

King Gaven was no slouch either. He was able to switch between his weapon and kill many men with his blade, then warg back into his bear killing many in his bear form. He could switch back and forth nearly instantaneously. He and his bear alone killed a giant, a feat not many can boast. But at the end of the day, the men and the element of surprised won the battle for House Stark. But King Gaven was able to escape and part of his men escaped as well. The battle was named the Battle of the Beasts.

* * *

The War of the Wolves was not a quick affair as the Starks hoped. The Starks marched their army towards the Stoney Shore. But they were harassed the entire way. The Starks put faith within the Children of the Forest's ability to stop the animals from attacking them. However, when they were attacked by fast moving birds, the Children of the Forest could do nothing. The birds and the animals attacked too quickly and moved too quickly for the Children of the Forest to take control of. This resulted in a continuous harassment. It was during the War of the Wolves, King Rickard's son was born. King Rickard named him Benjen after his mentor.

King Gaven refused to give up. He would make sure that taking every single keep was a challenge. 14 battles was fought in the War of the Wolves and 4 sieges took place over the course of 10 years. But slowly by slowly he was pushed back all the way to his keep at Sea Dragon Point. The keep was called Dragon's Watch. It was said that the first Warg King took control of a sea dragon, also known as a sea serpent. After he took the caste, he conquered the land by destroying navys and spitting boiling water at castle and men, killing and destroying anything in its path. Any invading force was wiped out by the serpent. When the first Warg King died the sea dragon went back into the ocean, never to be seen again.

Now King Rickard was before the Dragon's Watch he saw that it was not nearly as grand as Winterfell, in fact it was not even close. But it had the potential to equal in size to his High Magnar's castle. His men were tired of this war campaign. It has taken ten years of his life, the longest war he ever had to fight, but they were winning and House Greywolf would either be forced to bend the knee or be exterminated.

* * *

King Rickard sat in his tent pondering over his dilemma. The Starks had enough provisions to starve out King Gaven's men, but the longer they stayed here the weaker they would get. the problem were the fucking Boltons. There was no way that they would not capitalize on House Stark's weakest point. Should the Boltons attack them, House Stark would have done all the work for House Bolton in conquering the North and he was not about to let that happen.

The only solution was to siege the castle. Hopefully with the siege towers and the giants, taking a castle of this size should be easy. They currently had made 10 siege towers with the surrounding wood. The plan was for the Giants to push the tower, both simultaneously moving the tower forward and using it as a shield from the arrows. The men will then make their way to opening the gate and once that happened the battle should be over.

* * *

In very early in the morning the Starks launched their attack. The guards seeing this quickly sounded the alarm and called for reinforcement. By the time the enemy got ready to shoot, House Stark had covered half of the ground. Soon a wave of arrows rained down upon the siege towers, but the arrows could not sufficiently damage the siege towers. The men faced minimal casualties due to their ironwood shields.

The men had made it to the wall relatively unscathed, but their problems only began. Animals began to come out of the forest to attack them. Rocks were dropped, birds attacked men, and bears attacked the Stark men. Even through all of this harassment, the Stark men carefully went up the siege towers and began to attack the walls.

King Rickard was one of the first men on the wall, creating an opening for the rest of them. He slayed men left and right, carving a path on the wall. He allowed more and more towers to reach the walls. Soon the men were on the wall, and he made his way down to open the gate.

King Rickard lost count on how many men he killed during this battle. He fought five men at a time, cutting, jabbing, blocking, slashing, and then going back to jabbing. It soon became like a trance, as he fell into a familiar pattern. He made his way to the gate, undoing the blockade on the gate opening the gates for the men to come through. Slowly by slowly the Greywolf's men were being put into a corner.

King Gaven knowing the hopelessness of the situation said "STOP! I surrender."

All of the Stark men immediately stop attacking, but they did not put away their weapons. They were ready to start the fight again immediately, not letting down their guard.

Two men stepped away allowing King Rickard to approach and he said "You can lay down your crown and become my vassal or will you face Ice, it is your choice."

The wargs of the Warg King army looked ready to retaliate with their familiars and the Stark men were about to start attacking again.

Just when the tension became almost unbearable, King Gaven spoke again and said "I will…"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: To the guest reviewer, I understand your point about the lack of characterization within my fanfic, however, since I am trying to cover the entirety of the Northern history I cannot develop each character to a significant level. Most characters will only be focused upon for a chapter before switching characters. I am trying to cover 8000+ years worth of people and its history without making this story extremely large and not completable. The reason why I was aggressive on my previous review was because the reviewer instead of providing me constructive criticism, although you haven't suggested methods of improvement either, chose to insult me.

To stylo1, once again if you are unable to provide me specific instances of my god afull writing, as you like to put it, and methods of improvement please just stop reading and move on.

To thefirstmen and Golom, thanks for the compliment I appreciate it. I will try and post on ao3 after I have posted the full story here.

To George Cristian810, thanks for your ideas I will definitely take all of them under consideration.

To the other guest reviewer, who thinks my writing is blocky and amateurish. First I would like to say you are reading a fanfic, most of them are amateurish, hence fanfic, secondly I would like to point you back up to my first guest answer. I don't have the time to fully flesh out these characters, since I spend so little time with them. I would also like to state, I have done taekwondo for 4 years with a second degree black belt, I have also done a year of Judo and a year of boxing. I would also like to say that my story does go through basic spell check, since I can't stand leaving those red lines on any of my papers. If you can suggest a specific area in which I can improve I would be glad to hear it, but if not please don't bitch at me cause it makes me not want to continue.

To Lord Pepe, thanks for the complement.

To AO Black, I made him 160 centimeters cause 8000 years ago the average height was much much lower, so to accommodate for that I had him set as 160 cm.

To ibzane, yep I know about that fact, but I chose to ignore it in this story cause I have a hard time remembering the names in the first place.

And finally to Mr. Soze, stop trying to take the high road. You literally called me a instagram thot, which in case you didn't know meant slut. You are the only person being disingenuous here. You personally jumped to the conclusion that I chose to just delete the chapters and restart cause of the reviews. I am perfectly willing to face criticism, when it is constructive, yours were not. I have not gotten a single other complaint about me being disingenuous other than from you, cause it isn't disingenuous. The fact that you chose to make this pointless criticism, which only personally bothered you, a public review instead of a PM to me with the addition of the insult just seems to suggest to me that you were the one that wanted the attention.

Once again this is a fanfiction, the world of Ice and Fire does not belong to me.

* * *

"I will..." King Gaven stopped gathering his strength, to overcome his pride, slowly bending his knee and said "bend the knee. House Stark has proven himself the greater wolf and House Greywolf would not die out today. I, King Gaven Greywolf, the Warg King, first of my name, King of the Stoney Shore, hand my kingship to King Rickard Stark and House Stark. May they forever protect our weak and defend our honor."

King Rickard smiled and said "House Greywolf was a strong opponent and I commend you for your strength. In return for bending the knee, I name you High Magnar of the Stoney Shore. House Stark will forever protect the honor of House Greywolf and defend your weak. May they never falter in their loyalty to House Stark."

* * *

King Rickard stayed in Dragon's Watch for a moon and soon King Rickard and Magnar Gaven developed a friendship of sorts. They respected each other's strength and martial prowess. King Rickard had formed a betrothal contract between Crown Prince Benjen and High Magnar Gaven's daughter Alyssa Greywolf. This would tie House Greywolf closely to House Stark, uniting the houses.

With Magnar Gaven's former crown, in the shape of many animals made of bronze, King Rickard rode his way back to Winterfell as the Ryswell and Dustin made their way back to their homes.

House Stark had suffered the most losses during the War of the Wolves, coming back with only half the men that they had left with. However, it was worth it as House Stark dominated most of the North, with only having the east ruled by the Red Kings, the Mountains ruled by the many mountain clans, and the Magnars of Skagos.

He rode through the gates of Winterfell, the grand castle's magnificence visible hours hours before approaching it. When he rode into the courtyard, his brother had greeted him.

Magnar Torrhen said "Have you finally conquered the Greywolf?"

"I have, it took a long time but it is done."

"Good, House Stark has never been stronger. Father would be proud of us."

"He would be. Now, tell me what has happened during the time that I was away."

"Nothing major to report. I used my men to kill any bandits group that had formed. Nothing to report on the Boltons. They appear to be quiet. I have finally finished my castle and the region has now indisputable mine. Winterfell's coffers are filled and the people of Wintertown is happy. Finally, the Children of the Forest says winter will come within the next year, so I have made sure to keep our larder filled."

"You have done well Tor."

"Thanks, but I was only doing my duty. I need to ride back to Whitehall. I have been away too long and I have to make sure my rule is consolidated."

"Go Tor, I wish you luck in the years to come and make sure to visit Winterfell whenever you can."

"Thank you brother."

* * *

When High Magnar Whitestark left, he took all of the Whitestark men. The First Man Houses from beyond the wall were serving and staying with the different House of the North, so they may learn how to be a Magnar of the Starks and to increase the power of the North. House Stark intended to keep their promise of land in the future. But currently they were busy conquering the North. They could not give away land, in case they did not have time to consolidate their forces and have to fight rebellions and enemy kings, without a strong unified land. Only House Giantsbane remained with House Stark, the rest going to his High Magnars and different Magnars of the North. With most of the men gone, it presented the Boltons with an opportunity. Winterfell has never been so undefended. All of the Stark bannermen would have faced some loss, and their forced would have also just been released, and were all making their way back home. That means that they would not receive the ravens from House Stark until, they make it back home, and when they did they would need to recall all the men, and then march all the way back. The men's moral would be low and their numbers will be low.

So King Roose Bolton marched his men toward Winterfell for a quick surprise attack. The Starks were totally taken by surprise. They had lost too many men and did not even consider a surprise attack from the east. The Bolton laid siege to Winterfell, burning Wintertown to the ground. Their plans until this point worked perfectly but because of Magnar Torrhen's overachieving nature, Winterfell had enough food to last them years.

King Roose Bolton had two options, try to either lure out King Rickard or starve him to death. King Rickard knew this so immediately rationed the food. King Roose did not have the men to attack and siege the mighty castle, so he was stuck. His only move was to starve them. He knew had to finish this quickly or else they would get destroyed by the Stark bannermen.

To anger the Starks, he had the Bolton commanders rape the women and pillage the village in front of the castle. Many of the Bolton men looked disgusted at their leaders and their actions. When that didn't have the Stark men charging out of Winterfell, he began to skin the men and left them screaming for help in clear sight and view of the castle. King Rickard controlled his anger and did not respond to the clear insult. So King Roose tried a desperate tactic. He called for a parley.

King Rickard said with clear restrained anger "I am here. What is it you want you fucking Bolton?"

King Roose began to bluff through his teeth and said "I am willing to let you bend the knee, Stark. I am clearly the superior commander and leader."

King Rickard had to be restrained by his Magnars as he tried to punch King Roose in anger and said "Bend the knee? I have control of most of the North, I hold the greatest keep in all of Westeros and I have won more battles than you have. I claim the lineage to Garth "The Greenhand" the last great king of the First Men, I am descended from Brandon "The Bloody Blade" and Brandon "The Builder" the Last Hero! So why should I bend the knee to you Bolton, a mere barbarian who still skins and flays men?"

When King Rickard was met with silence fuming of the Bolton, King Rickard turned his back and began to ride off. Furious, King Roose broke the ancient law of the parley. He grabbed one of his archers bow and shot King Rickard's back. One of King Rickard's guards seeing the danger rode in front of the arrow and jumped to take the shot. King Rickard instinctively sensed the danger and shot a bolt of ice toward King Roose's bow. Even though King Roose broke the law first, he was unwilling to do the same. The ice snapped the bow in half, but dulled to merely push King Roose on to his ass.

King Roose in his anger, choose to try and break through the great gates of Winterfell right away. The same morning, he ordered the siege towers to move forward. The men saw atop the wall saw his King being shot at and rallied the men and commanders. All the men shot up toward the wall and began raining arrows down upon the Bolton men as soon as they got within range. The Bolton attack failed miserably, getting completely destroyed. The arrows killed many men and their few siege towers after being riddled by arrows, broke or was abandoned. When King Roose realized this, he ordered the men to retreat back toward the camp.

* * *

Three moons has passed since the Bolton's siege of Winterfell. None of Winterfell's ravens were allowed to reach their destination but the stray villagers must have reached one of the major keeps by now. Soon the might of the Starks will bear down upon them. But the Bolton's had no plan, no way for taking the castle, and the only reason why the Starks had not retaliated was because of the simple fact that they did not have enough men to guarantee a win.

King Roose also had to worry about winter's approach. They had no way of telling. The Starks knew due to their relationship between the Children of the Forest, but currently, Bolton had no way of knowing. They are Northern men and instinctively knew it was coming, however, they just didn't know exactly when. All they knew was that the days have gotten colder and knew that winter would soon be upon them. If they were still fighting this war, they would get completely wiped out without a strong roof over their heads.

* * *

Three days have passed and King Rickard rode out at night towards the camp and surprised the sleeping guards.

Not because he was he attacking, but because he said near the entrance flying the banners of parley "I am here not to address that false King but to you. Winter is coming. Those are my house's word. It is to forever remind us that winter is always coming and we must prepare for all that comes with it. There is going to be a massive blizzard early tomorrow morning. Should you all still be here, in this temporary camp, you will all get massacred. Now knowing this information, you can join me in Winterfell with a roof over your head with complete amnesty for sacking Wintertown. Or if you have a family and want to go to them, you may, either way it is my duty to warn you as King in the North and of Winter and the First Men."

With that King Rickard rode back toward the gates of Winterfell, which opened quickly to let King Rickard back in and closed just as quickly.

Silence hung in the air and nobody moved, until one brave man said "Fuck the Boltons, I have a family, a little girl, I have to take care of them, not die in this horrible excuse of a siege."

He had sparked the wave of men to pack their things and leave. Not even the threat of being flayed alive from King Roose could deter the men. Some went to Winterfell, but most went back to their homes. It was not known to King Rickard, but most people who were warned about the coming snow storm, lived through this winter all thanks to King Rickard, earning him the respect of the small folk.

King Roose now only had a quarter of the men he had started with, leaving King Roose furious. He had retaliated by capturing flaying the few people who tried to desert at the very end, as King Roose was able to regain his senses and order his commander to capture them.

In the early morning, just as King Rickard had said, snow began to fall. But not only that King Rickard had decided to destroy the army before winter could. They charged out from the gate, and broke through the flimsy defences King Roose had ordered to be set up.

The battle ended with the deaths most remaining loyal Bolton men and the few men that survived would end up dying of frostbite or hypothermia. King Rickard single handedly slew King Roose, capturing the Red Crown of the Boltons and their hereditary skinning knives. It is said that King Rickard had the backing of the Old Gods in this battle, as King Roose deserved punishment for breaking the parley, one of the few sins in the eye of the Old Gods. Rogar Giantsbane killing the High Magnar Brandon Hornwood, one of the partakers of rape and torture, earning a name for House Giantsbane. King Roose and High Magnar Brandon's head would adorn the walls of Winterfell above the gates.

King Roose was succeeded by his son King Royce. King Rickard considered sieging the Dreadfort and sacking it in retaliation, but he decided against it. Ironically it was the same storm that deterred the Boltons that had deterred the Starks from retaliating further.

* * *

The winter was a relatively short one, ending just before the fourth year. It was very lucky that, King Rickard had got a messenger to the other houses warning them not to come to their aid. Should they have come the men would have most likely have been either killed by the storm or died of hunger as the Winterfell larder would have run out faster. However dark times fell upon House Stark, as King Rickard "The Strong Wolf" died at age 51. His body was buried in the crypts with his ancestors.

House Stark was recuperating their strength now, as soon as the days grew warmer, King Benjen sent men out to rebuild Wintertown. It was a sort of blessing for the Starks, as they decided to organize the town better. All the markets were put together, all the housing were put together, blacksmiths and other skilled workers were put together and all the inns were put together as well. They created the town to surround the walls of Winterfell in a circle. And split the circle in four, with each quarter having a similarity. This meant that should an influx of men arrive, they could be contained in a quarter of inns, rather than having trying to contain them all over the entire town. This took a bit more than a year with the help of a few giants, although most of the work was too small they could help by carrying things. King Bejen under the advice of Magnar Torrhen made the most use out of the sacking of Wintertown and used it to improve their city.

* * *

It has been three years since the Bolton attack on Winterfell and King Benjen was planning the retaliation strike against the new Red King. He had gathered all his Magnars even the ones without land of their own yet.

"My Magnars, the Dreadfort might be strong but we have Giants and mammoths unlike them and House Bolton rely on fear more than actual skill in leadership and fighting. Once they are pushed back they will be forced to retreat into their castle, we can then starve them for 3 months and then attacking them when they are weak and have low moral." said King Benjen.

"That might be true your grace, but you will not be able to get that amount of men across to the Dreadfort, they will be notified and rally their own bannermen. The Hornwoods, although no longer kings, are still a formidable foe. Not to mention the men they have gotten from the southern part of the Bay of Seals. We must have a plan to destroy those men." said Magnar Jon Umber.

"Nephew, he is correct. I suggest that you lead an army to lure the Boltons, to the lonely hill in which another army will be hidden. The bait army must contain mammoths and giants or they will never believe that the army is the real deal." said Magnar Torrhen.

"I agree, but to make it truly believable. I must lead the charge." said King Benjen.

"Yes, by doing so they will truly believe you are committing to the army." said Magnar Jorah Mormont.

"Very well my Magnars, I believe we have a plan. Magnar Rodrik Thenn you shall be leading the army within the lonely hills with the council of Magnar Jorah. Make sure the smaller army is able to get into the lonely hills without getting detected. This is your chance to make a name for you House Magnar Rodrik. Heed Magnar Jorah, Magnar Rodrik, he is more experienced than you and you don't want to lose you chance to prove yourself. Magnar Domric Reed your men are far away, but I would like you to prepare your men just in case, make sure to be loud about it. We want the Red Kings to know that there are more men coming. They will lose moral knowing that we will have support. The rest of you, my Magnars shall join me." said King Benjen. "Uncle, I need you to remain and rule the North when I am absent."

Scoffing Magnar Torrhen says "When am I not, nephew?"

With a booming laughter from the group left to gather their men. King Benjen turned to Magnar Torrhen.

"Uncle while I am gone the North must be running smoothly. There can be no chance for a rebellion. We will not have the men to deal with it or get back fast enough. You must keep the moral high and Winter Town happy." said King Benjen.

"Don't worry about that, nephew. This is not my first time doing this, you know. Just make sure you arrive back home safely, or your father will have my head in the halls of the Old Gods."

"Very well, we will both keep our promises."

* * *

King Bejen road with the bait host with his greatsword, Ice, strapped across back. The host at the Lonely Hill should be in position. He was informed by his scouts, animals through the use of wargs, that the Red King's younger brother was attempting an ambush.

He turned around to the Magnars and said "Set up camp here. Slightly closer to the keep then necessary. Make sure that we throw a big feast to make it look like soldiers are drunk. Make sure in the middle of the night, that they dress in the leather armor, and go to the nearest gate way as possible. They will receive further orders from there."

"Your grace, may I ask why you are doing this?" asked the Magnar Mance Frost.

"Beating their ambush it will lead to a moral boost, give us something to mock the enemies. By mocking them, we will be able to better lure out the Boltons. They are prideful creatures, and if we provoke them they will respond. So when we lead them to the lonely hills they will be annoyed enough to follow us to the hills." said King Rickard.

"Very well your grace,"

"Magnar Jon I would like you to do something very important for me." said King Rickard, and he quickly explained his plan and explained Magnar Umber's part.

"I will get my men on it right away, your grace."

* * *

The Bolton men made their way to the wooden camp walls of the Stark army. They quietly climbed over to the wall, and approached the men guarding the gate in a crouched position, sliting their throats from behind. They died before they could even utter a sound. The two assassins, signaled the army to come down to the camp by extinguishing the left torch.

The army moved quickly but quietly, and entered the camp moving to the tents to slay the sleeping men. Most of the army was at every tents ready to sent it on fire and slay the men and Giants as they come out panicked. The Red King's brother Ramsay Bolton laughing silently in glee. Imagining this battle being called the Raping of the Wolves and being remembered as the leader of the who defeated the Starks. Hoping to be able to skin and flay Benjen Stark, he gave the signal to start.

The Bolton army threw the torch on the tent waiting for the men to come out. The few impatient ones just barged in and stabbed and the sleeping form of the man… until no blood came out. Confused they moved towards the 'dead body' and saw it was not a dead body, it wasn't never even alive. It was a dummy. The men realizing that they were in a trap rushed out of the tent to warn the men.

"IT'S A TRAP! THERE IS NOBODY IS-"

The man was interrupted by an arrow sticking out of his mouth. And behind him there were hundreds of fire arrows being shot at the camp from all directions. It was terrible, the arrows looked like a wall of fire. The red slamming into the Boltons and lighting the entire camp of fire. The fire started to cause panic within the men and they all tried to rune the three gates. Bolton men trampled themselves as they tried to leave, shot with arrows, and burned by getting to near the walls.

Finally a few Bolton men was able to trickle out of the gate, only to be met with giants, mammoths and men waiting to kill them.

That night the grounds near the long lake was named red lands, because by the end of the battle the grass was covered within the Red King's men's blood. Ramsay Bolton lost his right hand, and his bastard brother, Domeric Snow, had lost an eye. The battle was known as the Battle of Red Rain.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry for the delay, my American friend visited me and we were away enjoying ourselves, which led me to have no internet.

 **Dzerx** sorry, so close yet I still have plans for the Boltons.

 **Mr. Soze** , thanks for the actual specific advice and for the compliment. I am sorry to tell you however that I disagree with you point that you can get all of the changes out in 1 massive chapter. Cause I want to explore the important changes, why they happened, and its impacts in the whole timeline of the original story, which I feel similar fanfics lack and the parts of these fanfics that I personally love thinking about. So you won't be seeing Robert's Rebellion for a couple of chapters. I will try and make it seem less like filler.

 **Not A Fan** , sorry you think that my story is boring. If you don't want to keep reading then don't. I am fascinated about the choices that could have been made to develop the North into a powerhouse, rather then fleshing out characters. If that isn't what you fancy, once again I am sorry and please move on.

 **MachoMachoMan,** as I have said to the other people that have just said this, in what manner. From now on, unless you specify what you didn't like and how you would change it, I won't be addressing it.

 **,** thanks.

 **.10,** sorry you were put off by the deleting of chapters, I didn't think it would bother people that much. Thanks for the complement and I will try.

 **xXLgTXx,** thanks for the constructive criticism. I totally agree with you. I want this story to show the slight cultural differences that lead to this different North, while also discussing the economic and military aspects. I will try and demonstrate that more in the following chapters.

 **IWantColouredRain,** I completely understand your point. That has always been an issue for me, and it is only amplified with this story cause I am just adding and rewording to my previous stories. This leads to conflicts in how the story should be told, hence the weird tenses. I am trying to be more careful of them but they just slip through anyway.

 **Ao black,** thanks for the catch. Once again this stuff stems from what I mentioned above. If you see more of that please do let me know. The wording is sadly something I don't know how to fix, as I can not think of other ways to phrase myself beyond how I normally speak. I will try and keep what you said in mind but I am sorry if it doesn't change much. Thanks for the compliment. You make a fair point with the brother thing, I will fix it right after I post this chapter. Your point about the Night King is false, you are thinking about the Night's King, the Lord Commander that married the White Walker. You are right that no leader figure exist in the book, however, in this case I decided to draw upon the TV show to create a central powerful figure that poses a great threat to the North. The naming will be slightly changed and more varied but idk about those LotR names.

 **Darkcrest27,** yes, but I chose to ignore that portion of history. Also as far as I remember, we don't know if they existed during the same period, so if they didn't it could also mean that history got changed.

 **NoMan69,** if you think that is the case then please stop reading and move on. However, I would like it to be known that I was one of the earlier people to write this sort of story, and none of the others got completed. Finally, once again I want to focus upon how and why certain changes took place, and not just say these changes happened for no reason.

 **ATP,** please keep reading and you will know what I have thought of for fast communication systems.

 **Blackwidow713,** to answer you question yes he will exist. However, he will be different from the character in the show, due to the fact that he will have grown up in a different climate, and logically with the historical changes probably not have even the same heritage. I won't be messing with that heavily, however, cause I don't want to completely think of a new story.

* * *

The Bolton attacking force was decimated. Completely overrun with only a few stragglers making it back to the Dreadfort. They had left the Dreadfort with an attacking force of 10000 men and only 2000 returned. The Bolton heir and his bastard brother had major injuries and were barely surviving. King Royce Bolton saw these men trickle in and he was seething in anger. Throwing everything off of his desk, he yelled at his servant to bring him his two brothers.

The servant meekly replied "Are you sure your grace, they are nearly dead and will require medical atte-"

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE FLAYED! IF NOT GET THE FUCK OUT AND BRING THEM TO ME!"

* * *

"You called us brother?" said Ramsay Bolton with his right hand missing. Their bastard brother, Domeric, was meekly standing next to him.

"You fucking idiot! How could you lose so fucking badly! Because of your fucking failure, even the bloody servant is questioning me!" screamed Royce Bolton. "Not only that you lost us 8000 men and your fucking sword arm! I swear, as soon as I get married and have children, I will skin you!"

"I am sorry brother, I underestimated the young dog."

"You mock him, yet you got massacred by him! What does that make you, you fucking goatfucker. And you, you fucking bastard, how the hell did you fail to inform your brother that his plan was fucking idiotic! Then you failed to protect him! I will make you regret the day that my father raped your mother!"

"I apologize my lord, I will not make the same mistake."

"The only fucking reason why you are alive is because I need a fucking heir to the Dreadfort! Get out of my fucking sight! You two better be ready to leave within the end of the moon!"

* * *

King Benjen Stark was talking with his Magnars. "My Magnars, how many men did we lose?"

"We lost around 1000 men, your grace." replied Magnar Jon.

"Your grace, your plan with the dummies was pure genius." said Magnar Tormund.

"Thank you, Magnar Giantsbane."

"Call me Tormund, your grace. We have fought together and watched each other's back, there is no need to stand upon formalities when you don't have to, my king."

"Very well Tormund, I will call you Tormund if you call me Benjen. You did well routing the Bolton men. Your son even killed High Magnar Hornwood. You shall lead the vanguard with me, in luring the Boltons out. They will likely come out, when their bannermen get here to break the 'siege' of the Dreadfort. We have to make it look like we are actually putting in an effort to siege them. When the bannermen begin their charge at us, we must make it look like we are running. Magnar Lun, you must lead the giants out first. From our gathered intel they are very distrustful of none humans, and will believe that the 'cowardly' Giants will fill first. As soon as the bannermen arrive, I will lead the fleeing men. It will be more believable that the men ran away, because their king ran away." said King Benjen explaining the plan. "Magnar Rogar Cerwyn, tell the men in the Lonely Hills that they must look out for the bannermen coming and that will signal for them to prepare for the ambush."

"I shall do it immediately your grace."

"High Magnar Asher Glover, I need you to do something for me as well."

* * *

King Benjen walked along the men's camp outside of Dreadfort. All of the Magnar's were informed of the plans and were to lead their men as soon as he 'fled'. They were now just waiting for the Bolton bannermen to attack. It was going to be any minute now. As soon as King Benjen had that thought, a battle horn rang through the morning sky.

All of the men knowing that it was the enemy bannermen, they all prepared themselves. King Benjen jumped on his horse and 'fled' at just the right time. Allowing just enough time for most, if not all, the men to be able to leave the camp.

The Bolton men after being fed very little, due to rationing, all wanted to kill the Starks. Ramsay Bolton was eager to make up for his mistake and gain his honor and reputation back. He commanded his bastard brother, and his men to leave the Dreadfort to join with the bannerman in crushing the Starks. He himself had to stay back, as he would be useless in battle now with the loss of his sword arm.

"You grace, the Boltons are opening the gates and their men are pouring out of the gates. Their bannermen are coming at us and will reach our position in roughly 5 minutes."

"Good! They fell for it! Now we have to hope Magnar Thenn and Magnar Mormont was able to their part!"

The Stark men went into the previously decided valley, that had a small entry point but a wide and large valley. The archers from the Stark men ran up the hill joining the archers on top of the hill. The other infantry went to the other end of the valley, acting like they were trapped.

As the Bolton men ran into the valley Domeric grinned like a maniac and said "So the dog is trapped. How courageous of you to run away at the sight of the enemy!"

Seeing as though most of the Bolton army including the bannermen was in the valley, King Benjen said, "I wasn't running you fool! I was leading you into a trap! Magnar Thenn, Magnar Mormont, do it now!" leading a soldier blowing the horn, signalling his army.

With that the archers appeared out of the small cover and hiding spots. Realizing that they were trapped, Domeric yelled "Get out! Turn around and leave!"

The Bolton men began to push and shove each other to run away but they couldn't leave, for the Mormonts had their spearmen guard the mouth of the valley. Then they began firing arrows into the Bolton men. The entrance to the valley being small and thin, they could hold of the much bigger force, even with the smaller fighting force, with a well formed shield wall.

The Bolton men got brutalized by the trap set by House Stark. They were massacred by the Stark men. With arrows raining down and being attacked from both sides, they never stood a chance. Domeric in a flash of cunning, played dead. Because he was covered in blood, the Stark men assumed he was dead and left him alone. As soon as night fell, Domeric would get up and run away.

* * *

King Royce Bolton from his tower saw the Bolton army marching back and smiled. Finally the direwolf was broken. They could now march to Winterfell and claim it for their own. The flayed men was flying proudly in the air as the men made their way back. You could see the dents and cuts on the armor from what must have been a hard fight.

He walked down towards the gate and said "Open the gates! The Bolton men are coming back after skinning a wolf! And get me my damned brother. Inform him that his bastard brother is coming back."

The gate opened up allowing the men to trickle in. He looked at the leader, wearing a similar leather armour as Domeric's. He didn't look like Domeric but he was familiar. Tall with dark brown hair was a northern look, so that meant nothing to him. He looked bigger than Domeric was, strange. When the man turned to look at him, he was shocked. The man had grey eyes! The only known house with grey eyes were the Starks.

With this realization he screamed "These are not Bolton men! They are Stark men!"

As soon as Roose said that the Stark men moved instantly. They cut the chains that opened and closed the main gates. King Royce who now realized was Magnar Tormund, quickly charged and slew his man-at-arms master, who was easily the best swordsman and fighter in the group, while King Bejen charged at him. Even in his young age, he slew 10 men with ease, while making his way over to him. Royce pulled out his own bronze blade, knowing that he couldn't outrun him.

Even after engaging the first blow one could easily see that Benjen was a far superior swordsman and fighter. King Benjen began his training and wielded a wooden sword from the age of 5, training with both Magnar Tormund and King Rickard. Even after becoming King, he regularly sparred with multiply guards at a time. On the other hand, King Royce, while 3 years older and taller, had stopped his swordplay practice as soon as he rose to be the Red King. Not only that King Royce only started to wield a blade at the age of 8 and even then avoided practicing it whenever he could, preferring to practice the bloody practices of House Bolton.

After the 15 clashes Benjen disarmed Royce and knocked him out by slamming the pommel of his blade into his head.

He then turned to Magnar Theon Iceriver and said "Have him chained. When he wakes up bring him to me with his brother. Magnar Giantsbane please bring the small folk to the execution area,. Do not use any force. Inform them that their tormentors will be executed."

* * *

King Benjen stood by the execution stand by the weirwood tree outside of the Dreadfort, sharpening Ice sullenly. Ice was bigger than King Benjen himself, but King Benjen knew his duty. The man that passes the sentence, should swing the sword.

When Royce and Ramsay Bolton was brought forth, he walked over and said "Royce Bolton, you have fought the one true King of the North, flayed many men, tortured and raped the small folk."

Royce begged "Please my king, I will bend the knee! Just let me LIVE! You can kill my brother and take my sister as a slave! I will do anything, just let me live. Please!"

King Benjen looked at Royce with disgust and said "You disgust me. You would sell your family so that you could live. You even offered you own sister as a slave, an act mind you that breaks the few laws of the Old Gods. I spit upon you. I find you guilty of all crimes. I, King Benjen Stark, the first of my name. King of Winter. Magnar of Winterfell and King in the North. King of the First Men, the Children of the Forest, and the Giants, sentence you to die. Do you have any last words?"

Royce said "No please! I will do anything! Let me take the Black! please!"

King Benjen listened solemnly and nodded to Magnar Tormund. He pushed Royce's head down, and King Benjen swung Ice down on King Royce's neck, separating the head from the body. For his last words, he would forever be known as King Royce 'the Coward' Bolton .

He then turned to Ramsay Bolton. "You have to answer the same crimes crimes. How do you plead?"

He screamed "FUCK YOU, YOU BITCH! YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE SAFE! I WILL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!" while thrashing against his bindings and men.

"Very well, I find you guilty of all crimes.. I, King Benjen Stark, the first of my name. King of Winter. Magnar of Winterfell and King in the North. King of the First Men, the Children of the Forest, and the Giants, sentence you to die. Do you have any last words?"

"CURSE YOU, YOU BITCH! I WILL FLAY YOU ALIVE! WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS I WILL KILL YOU!"

Ignoring those words, he once again nodded to Magnar Tormund who he pushed Ramsey's head down. In a flash, his head joined his brother's.

King Benjen turned to the bannermen of House Bolton, and said "Magnars, I have not come to execute all of you. You were just following you duty in helping your king. I will let you continue to be the Magnars but only if you swear yourself to me or Magnar Tormund Giantsbane of the Dreadfort. Magnar Thenn, for your service during this war, I gift you the Broken Branch. You are to build a harbor there to increase trade for the North. May you use it well."

"I, Magnar Eddard Hornwood, pledge myself and my house to Winterfell. We pledge the faith of Hornwood. Hearth and harvest and I yield up to you, your grace. Our swords, spears and arrows are yours to command. Grant mercy to our weak, help to our helpless, and justice to all, and we shall never fail you."

"I, King Benjen Stark, pledge to grant mercy to your weak, help your helpless, and give justice to all. I accept your oaths. I name you High Magnar Hornwood of the Horned Woods. May continue to rule your lands well."

"I, Magnar Benjen Ramsworth, pledge myself and my house to the Dreadfort. We pledge the faith of Ramsgate. Hearth and harvest and I yield up to you, my Magnar. Our swords, spears and arrows are yours to command. Grant mercy to our weak, help to our helpless, and justice to all, and we shall never fail you."

"I, High Magnar Tormund Giantsbane, pledge to grant mercy to your weak, help your helpless, and give justice to all. I accept your oaths."

"I, Magnar Jon Thenn, pledge myself and my house to the Dreadfort we pledge the faith of yet built Widow's Watch. Hearth and harvest and I yield up to you, my Magnar. Our swords, spears and arrows are yours to command. Grant mercy to our weak, help to our helpless, and justice to all, and we shall never fail you."

"I, High Magnar Tormund Giantsbane, pledge to grant mercy to your weak, help your helpless, and give justice to all. I accept your oaths."

"I, Magnar Tormund Giantsbane, pledge myself and my house to the Winterfell, we pledge the faith of the Dreadfort. Hearth and harvest and I yield up to you, your grace. Our swords, spears and arrows are yours to command. Grant mercy to our weak, help to our helpless, and justice to all, and we shall never fail you."

"I, King Benjen Stark, pledge to grant mercy to your weak, help your helpless, and give justice to all. I name you High Magnar Giantsbane of the Dreadfort. I accept your oaths."

* * *

Brief excerpt of the timeline of the North, in the Encyclopedia, the History of the Kingdom of the North.

 **52 years AW:** Benjen "the Unifier" and Alyssa Greywolf will have a genius child named Brandon "the Scholar". This will start the myth that for every five Starks, one must be named Brandon or the Wall will fall. Benjen "the Unifier" orders the building of the Hall of Artifacts in Winterfell, where a great many important artifacts are placed to be remembered and honored. The crown of Garth "the Greenhand" and the crowns of all of the defeated Kings of the North can be found in this hall.

 **53 years AW:** Brandon "the Scholar" was already speaking, reading and writing learning at a much faster rate than the norm.

 **64 years AW:** At age 11 Brandon "the Scholar" would be instrumental in the standardization of a new writing system for the First Tongue, favoring an alphabetical form of writing rather than runes for every single word, attempting to design a clear easy to learn language.

It began when he traveled through Wintertown and observed the common folk, unknowingly committing crimes and unable to make their complaints known. After further research, discovered that the inability to read the numerous runes created a disconnect between the nobles and the smallfolk, who were treated as animals rather than humans, because they had to work the entire day and were unable to even read and write, a skill considered to be basic knowledge for the nobles. He also understood that only having a certain group of people who could read and write their language, made it difficult to record and learn from history, hence, his drive to design a better form of written language. With the smallfolk being more educated and aware, the North had greater access to scholars, as well as decrease the gap between the magnars and their people.

He would gather great minds all throughout the North and to design this language. He would teach the Northern Magnars and translate the journals of every Stark king before him so that the future generations might have access to it. He would also have every major battle of the North recorded so that the future Starks will learn from their ancestors mistakes.

He also started the tradition of writing down every good idea he would have but could not accomplish. So that in the future should they have the capacity to do so, they could. He would also start the biggest encyclopedia in known world, _the History of the Kingdom of the North_ , starting from Garth "the Greenhand". This book would be taken up by future Stark members who vowed to be as honest as possible whilst writing this history book. After the formation of the Order of the Highscholar the safekeeping and filling of the book would be taken up by them.

Brandon "the Scholar" Stark would marry Elenei "the fair" Durrandon, young granddaughter of Durran "the Godsgrief" Durrandon. This would be the first marriage alliance between House Stark and House Durrandon. King Brandon "the Scholar" would help King Durran "Bronze-axe" ally with the Children of the Forest to destroy House Storm, who had began to practice dark necromantic magic. This would make House Durrandon the strongest House in what would become the Stormlands and allow them to conquer the Stormlands. He would teach King Durran the writing of the First Tongue, allowing it to spread into the South as well.

 **79 years AW:** Brandon "the Scholar" helped fund House Greywolf's fishing fleet. These fish would feed the North during winter, where game was too hard to find and it was nearly impossible to grow food.

 **100 years AW:** The many primordial magical creatures and gods which once roamed the land disappears during the Century of Man. All gods have either faded or have moved into the Heavenly Plains. However, primal creatures such as the direwolves, saber-tooth cats, northern lions, and short-faced bear all survived and thrives in the North and Beyond-the-Wall.

 **110 years AW:** Prince Tormund "the Mathematician" Stark standardized mathematics, with the symbols of addition, subtraction, and division created solely by him with the notes of Brandon "the Scholar" for the rest of the North and the world. His line of thinking was similar to his father's in that not having a standardized form of mathematics made it difficult to learn, use, and was generally crippling the North.

He had also thought of the metric system. A system of organized measurement and would be taken up all over the world. Trade grew with in the north with these new developments. Items could be better tracked and certain items grew in value due to rarity, or craftsmanship. It also allowed for better architects, and more complex building to be built.

 **130 years AW:** Magnar Wun Giantsarm developed the idea of currency in the form of coins. House Stark seeing great value in such an idea, immediately took the idea, made three coins. Tin, bronze, and copper. 20 tin was worth one copper, and 20 copper was worth one bronze. Most animal pelts fell within the bronze range. Artworks, clothing or woodworks were in the copper area. In the later years when economics was more advanced, a member of House Stark's council, the Master of coins, always tried to keep track of the coins trying to make the number stay even, and updating the coins to Gold Wolves, Silver Dragons, and Copper Giants. Knowing that having too many coins will make them lose value, but having too little would cause a shortage in coins.

 **148 years AW:** The thirteenth Magnar Commander of the Wall marries the last White Walker and declares himself the Night's King. His name is scrubbed from all Northern texts, even in the History of the Kingdom of the North, except in the personal journals of King Brandon "the Breaker". One can still find the crossed out name in the History of the Kingdom of the North.

 **153 years AW:** Magnar Rickard Iceriver developed the skill of map making. With many tries, they had made the first mostly accurate map of the North and later surrounding lands. It kept bringing profit for the house. They taught their small folk to retrieved information about the surrounding lands in exchange for goods. They soon raised enough money to raise a keep. Their keep was located near the splitting of the river White Knife and close to Whitehall. Built by a few giants and men, their keep was a small sized one, with their main skill being map making. In 1570 years House Stark would commission the building of a massive Ironwood table map of the entirety of Westeros and Essos to be put into the the War chamber.

 **161 years AW:** King Brandon "the Breaker" with the help of Magnar Jormound "the Mighty" Giantsbane destroy the Night's King's forces and break the Night's Fort. King Brandon "the Breaker" personally slew the Night's King. Afterwards, he enforces strict laws against the Night's Watch to prevent them from ever rising in such a fashion again. King Brandon "the Breaker" then renounces his Kingship and swore the oaths of the Night's Watch and become the fourteenth Magnar Commander of the Night's Watch. His reasonings are unknown, although it is theorized to create the strong foundations that the Night's Watch will carry for the rest of its existence.

 **278 years AW:** King Harwood "the Mad" Stark slew 50 powerful wargs, 50 giants, 50 Children of the Forest and a newborn Stark from a cousin branch. For his tyranny, his son and heir Prince Galbart "the Just" would rally his men and stage a coup against him. In a single day, King Harwood "the Mad" was captured and tried. He was sent to the Wall to live out his days in shame and punishment. He is considered to be the worst Stark King in history.

King Galbart would then organize the making of the famous Throne of Winter with the Children of the Forest. However, the methods of creation are hidden and none are able to replicate its effects. The King's Regent would rule from on the smaller ironwood throne on the left of the King, while the Crowned Prince ruled from the smaller weirwood throne on the right of the King. These smaller thrones were located steps further down the raised platform the Throne of Winter.

 **325 years AW:** King Gandar "the Paranoid" Stark realizing the potential of the area of the Neck, hired many giants and men to build a grand keep there only second to Winterfell. He explained his plan to his Magnars and agreed that this could be the strongest line of defence for the North. After 17 years of building, Wolf's Watch was complete with 20 strong and tall towers, connected by a bridge to the central main Keep. The walls were high and thick. The same in size and fortifications to Winterfell, the surrounding lands being swampy making it much harder for men to attack. If they wanted to attack the North by land in large numbers, they had to walk through a singular safe path, allowing it to be easily defensible. It was built to be impossible to take from the South and extremely difficult to take from the North.

A third born son of King Gandar was granted Wolf's Watch, taking on the name House Guardstarks, granted the title of the Magnar of Wolf's Watch, Shield of the North, and later the Masters of the Canal. Their main source of money was the taxing the canal and trade.

 **453 years AW:** King Theon "the Sisterwolf" Stark would conquer the Three Sisters, one of the reasons for his name. After the Pirate King Rickard "the Bloodship" raided all the way to Whitehall, King Theon quickly struck against the Three Sisters, using the navy which House Thenn had built up to conquer them. The pirates that lived upon the islands, whilst skilled sailors, had no coordination between each other. This meant House Thenn could defeat the pirate navy. The island was quickly overwhelmed, as the pirates skill lay in the sea. He gifted each island to House Beasthorn, House Whitetree, and House Frost. House Frost was named the High Magnars of the Three Sisters. They were supposed to guard them from the Bronze and Griffin Kings of the Vale, and force all ships that pass to pay the toll. Allowing all three houses to rise in power and build their own navy to not rely upon the Thenns.

House Beasthorn had great areas for fishing allowing them food for winter and a resource to trade with the nearby Magnars. House Whitetree had extremely fertile lands especially for the Weirwood trees. They grew Weirwood trees there, giving the space to the Children. They in return of the act of kindness, by teaching them how to make bows out of the wood, which were currently the greatest tree to make bows out of. It brought House Whitetree great wealth. By this point most of the Children had moved up to the North, or the Neck, as they were truly accepted there, unlike the southern area. In fact even the Children of the Forest from the dense northern Essos, had left their forest after being attacked and kicked out of their home. They were called the Ifequevron, by the people in Essos.

House Frost had access to a lot of Ice, as their islands were the coldest of the three. Seeing this as an opportunity, House Frost sold ice to the southern kingdoms. Carriages were not fast enough to transport the ice before it melted but with boats and the location of the island, they were quickly able to sell ice to the Reach and the Stormlands making a great profit.

The other reason for his nickname "the Sisterwolf" was the fact that he was the only male out of 5 children. House Stark always had more sons than daughters. Normally House Stark only had a daughter in the main line every 3 generations. This was the only generation where 4 girls were born to the main family line.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry about the long delay, I had to get my american VISA for college as well as handle a lot of other paper work and stuff. Hope you enjoy the story!

 **Morgan Banefort:** Since the story is focused upon the North, I haven't focused on the West too much, however I am not going to also completely cut off the chance of that theory being true, hence, my ambiguity.

 **Hadrian Caeser:** Sorry to disappoint you, it just makes no logical sense not to.

 **ATP:** Huh I don't remember giants existing outside of Westeros, so I didn't include that element into my story. Sorry! The North is also going to start to interact with other countries, as the North and other empires/kingdoms becomes more powerful.

To the other people that left a review, thank you so much for your encouragement I really appreciate it, the only reason why I didn't add it specifically on to this A/N is because there was nothing really to address in your review. Once again, I really appreciate the reviews, please keep them coming as any constructive criticism/ideas are welcome.

* * *

 **503 years AW:** Queen Kyra "the Huntress" Stark lead an exploration in the Lands of Always Winter and discovered direwolves friendliness to House Stark, theorized to be because of the Blood of Lupa and Artemis running through their veins. She brought back 500 direwolves. She then put a reward to any hunter who could bring a direwolf alive to Winterfell, as well as creating harsh laws against the hunting of direwolves without justification such as the death of a human and without informing House Stark. The alpha of the pack bonded with Queen Kyra Stark and the ever Stark after her would be accompanied with a direwolf familiar.

They were fiercely loyal, and protective and because of House Stark's gift with the art of warging with an animal, House Stark would receive a powerful guardian. King Wiken "the Lovestruck" Umber would build the Wolf's Pen, a breeding ground for the direwolves, as a gift to Queen Kyra. Strength, speed, fighting instincts and intelligence was bred into the direwolves. They did not need to worry about loyalty, as most if not all Starks had a very close bond with their wolf, the Starks raisings their familiars from the moment they were born. Direwolves were bred with each other or, in a couple of rare cases, exceptionally smart or big wolves. Every millennium warg would go up to the Lands of Always Winter to bring back more Direwolves and release those which were too feral or unbonding. This was to keep the Direwolf gene pool strong and avoid inbreeding.

 **633 years AW:** With the North's growing power and population, the Starks required a method to gather information and police their large nation effectively. To meet the growing demand, Prince Talmen Stark founded the Order of the Green Rangers. It was a reconoincess policing group, whose job was to capture or kill bandits and law breakers which roamed the lands, as well as gather the opinions of the smallfolk or even infiltrate other kingdoms. Prince Talem borrowed from House Greywolf and made the initiation task, having to find a familiar, in the same unbearable condition as a Greywolf would have to go through. All members must be a warg. They could be royalty, sons of magnar, or mere commoner as long as they are gifted in the area of being a warg and judged to be pure of heart by the Children of the Forest. The Children of the Forest were accurate around half the time, so it was a good system but it was not foolproof.

The Order would have a few defectors during their illustrious history, using their new found knowledge and training for their own greed. However, the Order would send their own to eliminate any defectors, killing them with extreme prejudice.

Whilst in the Order the people had to give up all their rights and claims to land. They could be released from service, but only if they were the last of their line. They could, however, marry whomever they liked.

There can only be 1000 members at a time. All members must be a warg. They were trained for years with the bow and was supposed to be able to hit another person's head from a 100 meter distance, while riding. They were trained to blend into their backgrounds and observe, steal, and sabotage the enemy.

They would train for a minimum of 5 years, to become a Ranger. The title White Ranger is earned through 2 more years on the field or an amazing demonstration of skill/success in a mission. A Grey Ranger requires one to be already be a White Ranger and an additional 2 years of service or another demonstration of impressive skill in an important mission. The Green Rangers were the elite. To achieve that rank one must best a current Green Ranger in an archery competition, as well as melee. There could only ever be 50 Green Rangers at a time. In a wartime situation these rangers would each command 20 rangers. Talmen Stark was the first Green Rangers and started writing, the Record of the Green Rangers, recording and listing all of the Green Rangers and listing their accomplishments. All members of the Rangers would be retired at the age of 40 and given the option for a small piece of land of their choosing, with the condition that the land remains in the possession of House Stark and their children have no claim to it.

 **874 years AW:** King Karhen "the Architect" Stark asked the Children to use their gifts to create a small divide between the lands behind Wolf's Watch. The Children having destroyed the arm of Dorne and created the marches of the neck, told King Karhen that the request could be easily fulfilled. King Karhen had realized House Guardwolf required another source of revenue to maintain such a large castle, as well as realizing the potential of the underdeveloped western coast of the North.

Within a week, the grounds south of the Wolf's Watch shook, ever so slightly splitting apart. And within the day the shaking stopped leaving behind a wide but new riverbed. There was very little water within the river beds, as neither ends connected to the ocean. He then used the mammoths, giants and men to further dig out the ground. Once confidant that the canal could hold many ships, far greater in size than what they have currently, they carefully weakened the parts that connected to the ocean.

After 4 long years, the Wolf's Canal was built. After another 10 years, on either side of the Wolf's Canal there were 2 pairs of massive statues built. One pair of statues depicted King Brandon "the Builder" and King Brandon "the Bloody Blade". They faced towards the Iron Islands. King Rodrick "the Strong Wolf" and King Benjen "the Unifier", faced towards Essos. These statues were massive and between them there was mechanism inside, that once used, would pull massive enchanted chains out of the water. This made a barrier stopping the progression of any boats. The enchantment on the chain made it impossible to rust and made it 10 times more difficult to break. House Guardwolf man the towers, that connected to the side of the statue, that held the mechanisms.

They had three bridges at the thinnest point of the canal, which were manned by the Wolf's Watch. The bridges was just a long drawbridge. House Guardwolf made their revenue by adding a small fee to get across the water, as well as taxing the trade boats the traveled through the canal. Some small folk even started a ferry business, ferrying a small number of people across, but for a much smaller fee.

 **1021 years AW:** King Brandon "the Economist" faced a problem with the flow of money. He realized that House Starks collection and hoarding of money could damage the flow of income in the Northern economy. He had to inject money back into the stream, in a manner which benefited the North and House Star. So he hired and ordered the many workers to rebuild Winterfell. Using the designs left by King Karhen "the Architect" and Brandon "the Builder", he built the greatest castle in the world, over the course of the next 10 years.

The castle was made even grander and bigger, with 15 strong tall towers and a new great Northern keep. The Hall of Artifacts, the Great Crypts of Winterfell, the Throne room, Great Hall, and many others were expanded. To accommodate these giants, the common areas of Winterfell had to be greatly expanded upon. The old Godswoods was completely walled off and was for the sole use of the royal family. A new Godswood was grown for the smallfolk of Wintercity. The rich and the poor alike had the same access to these woods and allowed greater interaction between them. King Brandon also planted a weirwood tree by the execution grounds, so that the blood of the convicts could give themselves back to the Old Gods and earn forgiveness.

King Brandon "the Economist" would start the tradition of every 500 years commissioning the building of a great wonder or rebuilding/expansion of the Stark lands to inject the much of the taxes collected by House Stark.

 **1132 years AW:** King Boromir "the Gregarious" befriends a small clan of Giants and convinces them to slowly give up their nomadic ways and live near Winterfell. They become the legendary gatekeepers of Winterfell, a part of the defense against enemy attackers with the clan Gun Rug becoming a permanent defence of the capital of the North. This division of Giant guards leads to greater security for the Starks. This allows House Stark to also command the only division of Mammoth riders not under the control of the giants.

 **1236 years AW:** King Brandon "the Stone Wolf" Stark prepared the North for war against the Skagos. The Three Sisters prepared their navy and so did House Thenn. Using these boats they carried giants, mammoths and men to crush the three barbaric houses within Skagos. House Hornfoot was given Skagos to rule over it, with the three houses as their bannermen.

The island had some rich fishing lands as well as being abundant in seals, which had a lot of fat, fat being very useful for making candles. With that conquest all of the clans of the First Men, who would have been stuck on the other side of the wall, had keeps of their own and helped with the Northern economy, as well as fulfilling House Stark's promise to those original clans.

 **1394 years AW:** King Cadmus "the Spymaster" would commision High Magnar Jojen "the Wargmaster" Reed to start the King's Men. It was the greatest spy network in the known world. Using wargs, House Reed would be able to have animal spies and wargs all over the world and be able to latch upon all other spy networks of the other Great Houses.

They often guided ravens to their lands to gleem hidden information in meetings or private rooms. Nobody but House Reed and House Stark would learn how the King's Man was gathering their information. The Kingsman would sell their information to anybody willing to pay a price and greatly manipulate the world politics. The King's Man directly answered to House Reed and in turn House Stark, and would never be used against House Stark. It brought great wealth to House Reed, allowing them to expand their magical moving castle and allow them to rise in status as one of the most powerful House in the North and the world.

 **1473 years AW:** House Stark was able to help House Ryswell breed the best Warhorses in the North and one of the best in the rest of the world. With long term investments and nearly 1500 years of hard work, House Ryswell bred Zorses, Dothraki Stallions, Dornish Sand Steed, and Penthosi War Mount to breed the Northern Warhorse. This brought House Ryswell wealth and lead to the North having another export. The Northern Cavalry would be equipped with Northern Warhorses.

 **1532 years AW:** Queen Galadriel "the Engineer" Stark, a once in a million year genius, would develop engineering and physics as a field of study. Writing many books on engineering and leaving a great many books filled with mathematical equations and designs that nobody would understand for thousand of years, particularly designs for a flotation device, advanced weaponry, etc. She painted artworks more beautiful than any other and ruled as one of the greatest rulers the North has ever had.

She would work to change the inheritance laws from Agnatic-Cognatic Primogeniture to an Absolute Cognatic Primogeniture. Due to Queen Cassana's and her ancestors brilliance and the spearwives culture of the North, it would be accepted without much issue in the next 10 years.

This change in the Northern culture, allowed the North access to the talents of 50% of the population, which were being ignored in the other civilizations of the world.

It is during Queen Galadriel rule, the North would come in contact with the Ghiscari Empire. The empire having heard of the hardy folk with talents living in the Kingdom of the North preformed a slave raid the small village on the eastern coast, raping the women, taking of children, and the slaughter of men. As they sailed away two days later, after having looted and captured everybody, Queen Galadriel brought the might of the North down upon these raiders.

Her rage was legendary, having the genitals of the rapist removed and sent to the Ghiscari empire while she their heads adorned the coasts of the North. This would anger the Ghiscari Empire, who would completely cease trade with the North as well as plan an attack against them. These plans would never come to fruition as another threat rose in Essos.

 **1765 years AW:** Magnar Eddard "the Philosopher" Whitestark would form the field of Philosophy, pondering upon many of life's greatest questions. This interest in the philosophy would lead to the North's greater focus upon the future and long term investments. This when paired with the inevitable coming of winter, lead to the North focus upon long-term investments to assist them in their time of need.

 **1843 years AW:** Prince Damon "the Librarian" loved to spend time within the library, but was finding it over cramped and overflowing with books collected over their nearly 2000 year rule. So to compensate he would spend 10 years of his life designing and building the greatest library in the known world, far greater than the library being built in Oldtown. It would be known as the Great Library of Winterfell, incorporating the designs of both the Citadel of the Order of Maesters, his own, and a Northern design. He would study the architecture of the Ghiscari, Andal, Tall Men, and many more being inspired by many of the architecture of the other countries.

The Great Library of Winterfell would house thousands of scrolls, books, and tablets, with room for expansion as well as more storage.

 **1899 years AW:** King Brandon "the Shipwright" in tandem with Magnar Antioch Greystark would build a massive navy on the western shore of the North, to combat the constant raiding from the Iron Islands on the western shore, under the command of House Greywolf.

 **1929 years AW:** King Brandon "the Burner" Stark lead the invasion of the Iron Islands after the Ironborn tried to kidnap his brothers betrothed, Magnara Lyanna Mormont. He was able to bring in the Eastern Navy through the canal as well as mobilize the giants. With his father's Western Fleet and his vassals, with the first major battle being the massive sea battle at by the Saltspear against the Ironborns. The Stark would experience a massive victory, and after burning all of the damaged captured Ironborn longships, the bays name would become Blazewater Bay.

They landed Blacktyde Islands. They quickly moved on to Orkmont, then splitting up to attack Old Wyk and Harlaw at the same time. By 3 years they had controlled all islands except the island of Pyke. And with the men all ready they attacked Pyke from all fronts, quickly overwhelming the Greyirons. They all but wiped out the Greyiron line, with King Royce taking Yara Greyiron as his wife and made the Greyjoys the High Magnar of the Sunset Isles, granting them the title the Mangar Reaver of Pyke and Shield of the Sunset. They were told that they could continue their pillaging ways, as long as they didn't attack the Northern Kingdom and didn't take slaves. The Greyjoys agreed to these terms and soon became one of House Stark's greatest allies.

King Brandon "the Burner" would change his title to become the High King in the North and the Isle. The embodiment of winter and the storm. High Magnar of Winterfell. King of the First Men, Children of the Forest, and the Giants, and Magnar Protector of the Realm.

 **1939 years AW:** House Greystark, a cadet branch of House Whitestark and Greywolf, believed themselves more worthy of the Throne of Winter and would declare its rebellion against House Stark after the death of King Brandon "the Burner". With the support of Bolton's Blood Company, founded by the bastard Bolton who escaped the destruction of his house, their vassals, and the support of an offshoot branch of House Flint, and the first Andal Warlord, Argo Sevenstar, to make a guerrilla war against House Stark, killing thousands of civilians.

 **1945 years AW:** House Greystark would be defeated by House Stark, King Ignotus "the Strange Wolf" who would execute all males from House Greystark over the age of 13 sending the rest towards the wall and having all of the females marry into different loyal families. The Magnar of House Greystark, Magnar Theon "the Turncloak" would be given a Blood Eagle, a rare ceremony of execution for breaking one of the Old Gods most sacred rules, in front of the Winterfell Weirwood execution grounds to earn forgiveness for the rest of the Greystarks. All of House Greystark vassals would be stripped of their rank, home, and titles. The Blood Company would run away before the false bastard Bolton line could be stamped out. Magnar Harlon Whitestark would slay Green Man Beron Greystark, once considered one of the greatest swords in the North, cementing their allegiance to House Stark and earning forgiveness for the insolence of their cadet house. Argos Sevenstar was able to escape back to the Andalos, where he would continue his family line and breed ambitions within his sons to take the North for themselves.

 **1975 years AW:** Argos "the Warrior Reincarnate" Sevenstar, son of the original Argos Sevenstar who had attacked the North before came back with even more Andals attempting to escape the ever growing power of the Valyrians. House Sevenstar was one of the greatest and purest Andal nobilities, second only to House Arryn and their house had amassed more Andal warriors then any other Andal Invasion of Westeros. Argos "the Warrior Reincarnate", who was considered to be the greatest Andal warrior of all time met King Brandon "the Bloody Wolf" on the field of battle. After dozens of skirmishes, surprise attacks, naval battles and the like by Oldcastle. Argos had slain a half dozen Northern Magnars such as Magnar Mormont, Umber, and Giantsbane, whilst Brandon had himself slain the other six Andal warlords who had supported Argos. When Brandon and Argos met on the battlefield, It is said that their blades clashed for hours, reaching well over a thousand clashes. Each warrior were littered with minor cuts and bruises and were breathing heavily. It is said that Argos met his doom, when he over swung and received a blow to the jaw that knocked him out cold. With the fall of Argos, the Andals attempted to surrender, but Brandon refused, citing their crimes in cutting and burning of the Weirwood tree by Oldcastle. It is said that Argos and his surviving Andal invasion force was beheaded by the newly planted Weirwood sapling, soaking the tree in Andal blood, earning himself the name "the Bloody Wolf", and thus ending the Andal Invasion of the North.

* * *

During this time House Stark was not the only house facing the Andal Invasion. The Vale was ruled by House Royce, the Bronze King of the Vale, and House Gryffin, the Gryffin Kings of the Vale. It was a hard fight for them, but the bronze runic armour had helped immensely in fighting the other petty kings, and House Royce began to rise above House Gryffin, slowly overtaking them in land and men.

During the period of the Andal Invasion of Westeros, the Warlord Artys Arryn lead the Andals to land in the Vale. Using assassinations and intrigue Artys Arryn quickly destroyed most of House Gryffin and claim their seat, the Eyrie, Gates of the Moon, and the Bloody Gate. House Gryffin would first escape to the Westerlands, before being chased out in four generations for gathering too much power. They would then move to the North where they were welcomed. House Gryffin's crown would be added to the Halls of Artifacts in Winterfell in exchange for being allowed into the North. Using the lands of House Gryffin, House Arryn began their war with House Royce. While House Royce had more land, House Arryn had more men and better intrigue.

King Robar Royce warred upon one Andal Warlord at a time, as the Andal warlords had begun their petty rivalries and infighting - the same infighting that had plagued the First Men and allowed the Andals to seize power. King Robar won many battles, defeating the Andal King of the Fingers, Retaking of Gulltown, the Hammer of the Hills, and many more. However, his brilliance led to his downfall, as the Andals, fearing King Robar enough, ultimately reacted and chose to unite under King Artys "the Falcon Knight" Arryn. The two armies fought in the Battle of Seven Stars. According to singers, Robar's army threw back six Andal charges, but the seventh one broke through. Nevertheless, Robar ordered a counterattack and led the charge himself, with his champions at his side, slaying Torgold Tollett. Then he spied the Falcon Knight's armor across the field and spurred toward him. King Robar managed to slay King Artys screaming in victory, but then five hundred knights charged down the slopes of the Giant's Lance to take Robar's disorganized host in the rear. Leading the attack was a champion in silvered steel, with a moon-and-falcon on his shield and wings upon his warhelm: the true Ser Artys; whereas the man King Robar had slain was a mere decoy. King Robar and thirty lords supporting him died. House Arryn, the oldest descendant to Hugor of the Hill purest of Andal Nobility claimed the Vale for himself, with House Royce as his vassal forcing the boy lord to renounce the Old Gods, and abandon his First Men heritage. Lord Harwin "the Broken" Royce would not be allowed to rule Runestone, House Arryn having appointed a regent to rule in his name. Lord Harwin was held as a "guest" in the Eyrie, constantly being educated in the Andal ways. Lord Harwin would be forced to marry Artys' younger sister and their child was taken from Lord Harwin to be educated by Artys. It was only Artys Royce, who was allowed to return to Runestone and take control over his ancestral home. House Arryn now claimed the title King of the Vale, the Fingers, and the Mountains of the Moon. King of the Andals and First Men. It would take House Arryn four generations to consolidate and secure their rule as a Great House of Westeros.

* * *

House Gardener, the other descendants of the Last High King of the First Men, Garth "the Greenhand", had conquered the entire of the fertile lands the Reach allowing them access to more fighting men than any other Great Kingdom. They were even able to make powerful houses, such as House Hightower, bend the knee.

The greatest of the Gardeners was King Garth "the Goldenhand" Gardener, for his deeds both in war and in peace. Ascending to the Oakenseat at age twelve, Garth ruled for eighty-one years, of which less than ten were spent at war. In the few times Garth "Goldenhand" did go to war, he utterly trounced his adversaries. As a boy he defeated an invasion of Dornishmen by King Ferris Fowler, then drove the Ironborn who had began to settle in the Shield Islands and fortified them with men from the Reach. Garth "Goldenhand" defeated the alliance between the King of the Rock and Storm King, defeating both in the Battle of Three Armies, and dictated the boundaries of their three kingdoms in the aftermath. However no matter how skilled his prowess in the battlefield was, Garth's greatest accomplishment was giving his people three-quarters of a century of golden peace, bringing unprecedented prosperity in the Reach. Garth's rule became known as the Golden Reign and was when the Reach truly flowered.

During the Andal Invasion, the Three Sage Kings, or the Three Coward Kings as the North calls them, began the assimilation of the Reach into the Andal culture in three generations. This would be the quickest assimilation done over an entire Kingdom.

This would begin the Northern hatred of the Reach during this time, for they were responsible for the genocide of the Children of the Forest in the Reach.

* * *

The many Storm King of House Durrandon conquered the Stormlands and even the Riverlands, expanding their power of the Storm Kings greatly. King Durran "the Fair" brought the isle of Tarth and Estermont into their rule as a vassal, changing their royal title to Magnars of the Storm and King of the Stormlands. King Durran "the Mighty" expanded their lands to Blackwater rush, and conquered Duskendale and Maidenpool. His great great grandson King Qualton "the Conqueror" conquered the Riverlands with the help of House Stark for another marriage, gaining the title King of the rivers. House Durrandon became one of the most powerful Great House of Westeros with their conquests. Their alliance to the Stark growing their wealth and cementing their power.

During the Andal Invasion, King Monfryd "the Faithslayer" Durrandon was finally defeated by the Seven Warlords of the Holy Brotherhood at the Battle of the Bronzegate in combat. King Monfryd having been slain by one of the Seven Warlords who stabbed in his back after yielding.

Crowned Prince, now King Durran showed the meaning of his House words and destroyed the five remaining Andal Warlords. His rule should have been filled with peace and prosperity after such a victory, however, he faced more tragedy as King Maldon "the Kinslayer", his younger brother, betrayed him. King Maldon after marrying a Andal bride overthrew his brother and slayed him in battle. King Durran was first locked out of Storm's End, after returning from the Battle of the Kingswood. Prince Maldon slaughtered all loyal Durrandon guards and filled the castle with Andals. King Durran would be put at a disadvantage from this point on, as King Maldon has fresh troops from the Andals as well as the traitorous bannerman, who had betrayed their loyalty to him. House Stark alerted to this terrible betrayal would attempt to assist King Durran gain control of the Stormlands. However, it took them a moon to receive news of the betrayal, three moons to gather the men, and another two moons to reach the Stormlands. During that time, although King Durran had fought valiantly and with greater skill, King Durran had been slain by King Maldon. It was through treachery as King Durran refusing to slay his brother turned around in victory after having forced him to yield, when King Maldon stabbed him in the back, mirroring the death of his father.

Crowned Prince Theon would land a fornite later and hear of this news. In rage Theon would beat back the Andal men and sent them running back to Storm's End. Theon knowing his friend would not receive a proper burial, took his body back into Winterfell, where he was buried in the Great Crypts. House Stark would inform all other Houses in Westeros of King Maldon's actions and name him Kinslayer. House Stark declared that any alliance the North had with the Stormlands is now over and House Stark considered the current House Durrandon no Durrandons at all. The Storm Crown, worn since King Durran "the Godsgrief" was placed in the Hall of Artifacts along with their ancestral warhammer. King Durran "the Faithful" was one of two none Starks ever to be buried in the Great Crypts of Winterfell.

Thus, the Stormlands fell to the Andal Invasions, assimilating to the Andal culture and abandoning the culture of the First Men. The Stormlands would face unrest for six generations before becoming completely Andal.

* * *

House Casterly fell to House Lannister, the newest the Great House. Lann "the Clever" Hill, a genius bastard of House Gardener, had driven the cruel tyrannical King Jaime Casterly insane for the Casterly bannermen. He confused the sleeping Casterlys by whispering threats, howling like a demon, stealing treasures from one brother and placing them in the bedchamber of another, and rigging traps through the forgotten hidden passages of Casterly Rock. Thus, he set the Casterlys at odds with one another and convinced them their seat was haunted. Due to stress and infighting, the Casterly line soon lost most of its members and Lann took the seat as his own. 3 members of House Casterly is thought to have escaped the castle, although their line is lost in history.

In return House Casterly's vassals swore fealty to Lann. However, Lann only had one daughter before becoming infirm. The Andal Invaders lead by Tytos Star captured and conquered half of the Westerlands. Lann once again using his brilliance, convinced Tytos Star marry his daughter and taken on the name Lannister, named after himself. After many months of careful diplomacy, intrigue, and show of force Tytos agreed, thereby forming House Lannister the Kings of the Rock.

Thus, the Westerlands technically fell to the Andal Invasions, assimilating to the Andal culture and abandoning the culture of the First Men, over the course of four generations.

* * *

There were three powerful houses in Dorne. King Arthur of House Dayne, King of the Stoney Dornish and King of the Red Mountains. There was King Qoren of House Martell, King of the Salty Dornish and King of the Broken Arm. And finally there was King Doran of House Yronwood, King of the Sandy Dornish and the King of the desert. Those three houses fought one another, never quite gaining the upper hand.

When the Andals came, House Martell fell first, as House Martell often traded with Essos and already had hundreds of Andals within his lands. With the kidnapping of his heir, House Martell quickly joined the Andals and assimilated to their culture. House Yronwood fell next, as the Andal forces of House Durrandon and House Martell worked together to convert House Yronwood into an Andal House. After 5 years of warring, House Yronwood finally gave up their First Men culture and joined the Andal culture.

Soon both House Yronwood and House Martell pressured House Dayne to switch. However, House Dayne remained steadfast as the First Men, beating back dozens of attacks by House Yronwood and House Martell with the help of House Stark, who refused to allow another great house and ally to fall under Andal rule. It would take them 20 year before they would came to an armistice. House Dayne in return for peace would allow Andals into his lands. They would however not need to convert their own culture. This armistice was agreed upon and the Andal Invasions of Westeros were officially over.

* * *

All Weirwood south of the Neck except the ones in House Dayne's lands and the ones in the God's Eye was all cut down. All Children of the Forest found in the south was promptly burned at the stake.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Once again I am sorry for my late update. I was moving into my college and i couldn't find the time.

* * *

The North was prospering, under good, effective, and honest ruling, the North had great trading deals with House Dayne and many of the rulers in Essos, they had good lands, and the strongest army and navy of all the many kingdoms of Westeros.

King Thenar Stark was having a peaceful day, until a House from the Westerlands, Vale, and the Reach came to the North, and sought an audience with King Thenar. They met in the Throne Room, and very interesting proposition was made to them by the three houses.

Magnar Peverall was an old house from the Vale, but they were attacked for their refusal to change their religion from the Old gods to the Seven. They were attacked and they barely survived. They came to seek refuge, in return for information which may be very useful to the North. King Thenar was going to offer them refuge any way, agreed very quickly.

"I shall give you lands in the mountains of the North, you can mine the gems and metals, and sell it as raw material. You will be High Magnar of the Mountains. Now you must keep your end of the bargain."

"Your grace, the Andals and the Seven plan to conquer all of Westeros, and convert all religion into the Faith of the Seven. The Artys Arryn was already making plans to take the Three Sister. They have murdered most if not all the Children south of the Neck, and burned all of the Weirwoods in the Vale. The only lands that remain safe is the Isle of Faces."

"THEY DID WHAT! HOW DARE THEY! THEY THINK THAT THEY CAN MESS WITH THE NORTH AND THE OLD GOD! The Old Gods have proven their existence through the Breaking of the Arm, the Hammers of the Water, and their help in the creation of the Wolf Canal!"

"Yes your grace, I completely agree so does all of the First Men with me. They were planning on hiding in the mountains and slaying any Andal they came upon. Instead I convinced them to join me."

"They shall be your small folk as they already knows how to survive in the harsh mountains, Magnar Peverell. I believe there are already some clans in the mountains known as mountain clans. You are to gain their allegiance and create your keep. I will be willing to pay for 30% of it with some minor interest. It can be like the one you left behind in the Vale."

"Thank you, your grace." said Magnar Peverell turning around and started discussing with his men.

Lord Gryffin was a relatively new house from the Westerlands and after offending the Lannisters barely left the Westerlands from the Lannister assassination attempts. He stepped forwards and said "Your grace, if you allow me to also settle in the mountains of the North, I can start a mining operation within those mountains. They must contain some silver, gems or some kind of precious metal. Those mountains are almost the size of the Westerlands!"

"That is a very good idea. Magnar Peverell you are to give half of your Mountain clan for House Gryffin. They will be use to living in such areas already. House Stark shall provide you with a thousand small folk and pay for 30% of your keep with some interest as well for one condition. Do you follow the Old Gods?"

"Of course your grace. I am a member of House Gryffin, while we have lost a lot of power, we use to be the Gryffin King of the Vale and could trace our lines for generations through the First Men."

"Then rise Magnar Godric Gryffin. I shall provide you the thousand small folk by the end of the week, and you shall also take 10 Children of the Forest who fled from the south and 10 Children of the Forest from the North. They shall plant a Weirwood tree in your Godswood and re-educate you in the ways of the Old Gods. You are to swear yourself to House Peverell, and teach him how to mine from those mountains."

"Thank you, your grace."

Finally Lord Lorel Manderly of House Manderly stood up said "Your grace, I am an exiled house from the Reach. I insulted the House Gardener and King Merle "the Meek" for his weakness and I told him I shall never serve a weakling like him. He merely exiled my family from the Reach. So I took all my wealth, naval power, and family and came here. The strongest of the Kingdoms, in hoping that I would be allowed a new home. I could offer you the knowledge of how to farm better, and to make things such as fertilizers and how to make iron weapons."

"I shall allow you to settle on my land if you meet a few of my conditions. First, you must convert to the Old Gods and you and your children shall be educated by the Children in the ways of the Old God. Second, your heir and his heir must marry a Northern woman. Third, you must teach us what these 'fertilizers', and 'iron' weapons are, before you leave for the end of the White Knife river. You will be allowed to build a harbor there, it should bring you plenty of gold and set your castle upon what was once the seat of House Greystark. Should you hold up your end of the bargain, I shall offer even more to you, such as your own bannerman. Before you can begin working on your land, you are to swear your oaths of fealty to House Whitestark."

"I shall graciously accept, your grace."

"Good, Magnar Lorel Manderly. My smiths shall meet you tomorrow afternoon, an hour after lunch. My farmers shall meet you for these fertilizers an hour after you meet the smiths."

"I shall have my men ready with the material by then. Thank you, your grace."

"Brother, would you please write a message to Magnar Waymen Locke, to swear himself to Magnar Manderly. Don't send it yet, we have yet to see if Magnar Manderly can hold his end of the bargain, and send out a message to Magnar Brandon Whitestark. Inform him that he has a new vassal."

"Magnar Peverell and Magnar Gryffin, should you be successful in building your lands, you can promote people into Magnars to run different parts of you regions. You will be able to have your own bannermen soon enough."

"I, Magnar Godric Gryffin, pledge myself and my house to Death's Rest, we pledge the faith of Godric's Hollow. Hearth and harvest and I yield up to you, my magnar. Our swords, spears and arrows are yours to command. Grant mercy to our weak, help to our helpless, and justice to all, and we shall never fail you."

"I, Magar Ignotus Peverell, pledge to grant mercy to your weak, help your helpless, and give justice to all. I accept your oaths." said Magnar Ignotus, before turning to King Thenar and getting down to his knee and throwing his sword to King Thenars feet "I, Magnar Ignotus Peverell, pledge myself and my House to the Winterfell, we pledge the faith of Death's Rest. Hearth and harvest and I yield up to you, your grace. Our swords, spears and arrows are yours to command. Grant mercy to our weak, help to our helpless, and justice to all, and we shall never fail you."

"I, King Thenar Stark, pledge to grant mercy to your weak, help your helpless, and give justice to all. I accept your oaths."

* * *

King Thenar "the Diligent" worked hard to bring the North up to a higher standard then the Andals. They learned and taught all their smiths how to forge iron and House Stark forged a new greatsword made of enchanted iron. The better the material, the more powerful the enchantment held and could be weaved. The original Celestial Bronze weapon was put into the Hall of Artifacts. The Children decided to name the enchanted iron, Frostiron, permanently replacing the Celestial Bronze. Only the High Magnars of the North wielded Frostiron. Every house but House Giantsbane, House Mormont, and House Stark, wielded a longsword. House Giantsbane choosing to wield dual axes, House Mormont chose to buy a bastard sword and House Stark it's greatsword. The Northern army was prepared to respond at any moment. The King's Men were sent to infiltrate the Westerlands and the Stormlands.

* * *

House Durrandon lost power in the Riverlands with House Mudd of Old Stones revolting against the Storm King and declaring themselves the King of the River and the Hills. House Mudd was able to achieve such a victory, due to the funding and resources they secretly received from House Stark. They claimed descent from the Lost House of Teague, the last King of the River and the Hills. House Mallister and House Trident declared for them, as they were not happy with the taint of kinslaying.

With their help, House Mudd subdued House Tully and House Blackwood. House Bracken also seeing the House Durrandon lost interest in the Riverlands, declared themselves King of the Trident. This would start a war with House Mudd and House Bracken, with neither side gaining large ground.

* * *

 **House Stark**

The King in the North and the Isles. Magnar of winter and the sea. High Magnar of Winterfell. King of the First Men, Children of the Forest and the Giants. They rule the largest region of Westeros. It is said the North could fit all other regions within the North and still have some space left over. The Starks are one of the oldest families in the known world. Only matched by the Gardeners and Durrandons. They are the descendants of the legendary figures such as High King Garth Greenhand of the First Men, the Grey King of the Isles, Storm King Durran "the Godsgrief", and King Brandon "the Bloody Blade" all of which had married goddess. They claim to be descended from the goddess Artemis, the Goddess of the hunt moon and snow, Elenei, the Goddess of the storms, Amphitrite, the Goddess of the tide waves and rain, and finally Lupa the She-wolf. They also can claim descent of the Great House Greyiron, which were absorbed into House Stark through the last female line. House Greyiron ruled the Iron Islands for hundreds of years before being absorbed into House Stark.

Winterfell is the mightiest castle of the known world. It holds the highest towers of a castle and the thickest walls. It holds the Street of Kings, Great Library, the University of the North, the Hall of Thousand Lights, Ancient Crypts of the King of Winter, the Artifact Hall and many other Great Wonders of Man.

Their House was founded by King Brandon "the Bloody Blade" Stark, second son of Garth Greenhand. King Brandon fought in the War for Dawn against the White Walkers and wights as the first war leader. He slew many undead giants, wights, and White Walkers. His son, King Brandon "the Builder", the second and last war leader of the War for Dawn, raised Winterfell, the Wall, Hightower and Storm's End, as well as influencing most of the castles found in Westeros. All four are known as the one of the mightiest structures in the known world. Other Stark Kings have built great structures, such as Wolf's Watch, the Wolf Canal, and the Great Statues guarding the canal. House Stark could be credited for the measurement system, most mathematical advancements, currency, writing, food, beverages and a plethora of others.

House Stark had beaten the Warg King, Red King, Barrow King, King of the Rills, and King of the Neck, and King of the Hearth, for their position as King in the North, and the King of the North and Winter. Defeating House Greyiron for their title of King of the Isle. They have defeated countless Andal invasions, and many Targaryen Dragon Conquests.

They wear the only known crown of Valyrian Wintersteel crown which had a snarling wolf's head, with its eyes set in rubies and surmounted by Valyrian Wintersteel spikes in the likeness of longswords carved with runes of the First Men. They still have the all of the crowns of their defeated opponents in the Artifact Hall.

They have an ancestral greatsword named Ice. It is forged out of Frostiron which is imbued with the magic of the Children of the Forest. Whilst not the original blade, its namesake has killed both Children of the Forest, Men, Giants, and White Walkers..

All members of House Stark are fluent in the Old Tongue (mother tongue), the Common Tough, and High Valyrian.

They are a firm believer in the Old Gods, like all other houses in the North and have great magical abilities. Abilities such as warging, greenseeing, and the control over the element of ice and winter, a magical ability that no other house in the world holds. The Faith of the Seven was stamped out of the North, due to the many problems caused by religion in co-existing with other religions, unlike the Drowned God, the Many-Faced God, and etc.

House Stark has shaped the world for 2000 years, directly responsible for many of the advancements in the world, a legacy no other House in the world can claim. House Stark is currently the most powerful House in the known world with the biggest, richest, and the most powerful Kingdom, only comparable to the likes the entire newly formed Valyrian Empire.

* * *

 **House Durrandon**

King of the Stormlands. Lord of Storm's End and King of the Andals and the First Men. They currently rule the third largest kingdoms. One of the oldest houses in the known world tied with House Stark and House Gardener.

Storm's End is one of the most powerful and large fortresses. It has magical runes of protection, carved by the Children of the Forest, making it very difficult to siege and take and was designed by the legendary figure Brandon 'the Builder'.

Founded by Durran 'Godsgrief', who raised the Castle Storm's End five times before raising a castle that could withstand the winds of the gods themselves, with the help of King Brandon 'the Builder', completing his task in earning the favour of the Storm God for his daughter, Elenei, hand in marriage.

House Durrandon, had to beat the House Estermont, House Dondarrion, and House Connington for their rule of the Stormlands.

They wear a gold crown in the shape of stag antlers. Their original crown of bronze and ancestral hammer is in the Winterfell, in the Hall of Artifacts, after Crowned Prince Theon "the Hungry Wolf" failed to protect his friend and ally.

They have switched to believe the Faith of the Seven, after King Maldon "the Kinslayer" slew his own brother King Durran "the Faithful" to rule the Stormlands with the Andals.

* * *

 **House Gardener**

King of the Reach. Lord of Highgarden and King of the Andals and the First Men. They currently rule the second largest kingdom.

Highgarden was a large fortress. Built over the many years of the Gardener Kings. The castle has incorporated many gardens inside its wall allowing for the Castle itself to produce food, and is often considered to be one of the greatest castles in the world.

The house was founded by Garth "the Greenhand", the last High King of First Men.

House Gardener beat King of the Arbor and the King of the Old Town in the field of battle.

They wear a crown of roses made of gold. It was a very extravagant crown, fitting of House Gardener. They were a very extravagant and very proud of their heritage. The crown of Garth "the Greenhand" of never dying vines and flowers are in the Hall of Artifacts of Winterfell, when Garth went up north to seek forgiveness from his son and grandson. House Gardener has made 97 attempts at stealing the crown back, but has never succeeded.

They switched to the Faith of the Seven as soon as the Andals arrived abandoning their First Men culture through the Three Sage Kings, or as they are known in the North, the Three Coward Kings. They ordered the few Children found to be killed. They burned the many Weirwood trees, even the one personally grown by Garth "the Greenhand". They took House Tyrell, a minor Andal House as their stewards.

* * *

 **House Lannister**

King of the Rock. Lord of Casterly Rock and King of the Andals and the First Men. They currently rule one of the richest kingdoms. One of the second youngest Great Houses, formed only a few decades before the Arryn of the Vale.

Casterly Rock was an impressive structure both above and underground. It was a castle built on top of a massive mountain with the greatest gold veins in existence. The castle had the claim of the highest structure in the world, due to the towers being built way above the ground atop mountains. When a mine was cleared, it would be repurposed, either as storage, dungeons or etc. This means while Casterly Rock is an impressive castle above ground, their main size comes from their rooms dug into the mountain itself.

The house is technically founded by Lann 'the Clever'. A genius who won the allegiance of the Lords of the Westerlands and stole Casterly Rock from House Casterly, then married his only daughter to an Andal Warlord Tytos under the conditions that they take the House name Lannister. Lann drove every member of House Casterly insane, stealing their keep, and earning the allegiance of the other Lords by killing the Tyrant King Tywin Casterly.

They wear a crown of gold made of roaring lions. It is also very extravagant and comfortable to wear as a show of their wealth.

House Lannister being technically founded by Lann "the Clever" means that House Lannister could only have existed through the brilliance of Lann, however, the first real king with the name Lannister was King Tytos Lannister. House Lannister was founded with Andal assistance and have always followed the Faith of the Seven Who are One.

* * *

 **House Arryn**

King of the Mountain and the Vale. Lord of the Eyrie and King of the Andals and the First Men. They are the only true Great House of pure Andal decent and can claim the bloodline of the purest Andal Nobility. They are the youngest Great House of Westeros.

The Eyrie is built atop the steepest mountain of the Vale. It was built by the Gryffin King of the Vale and who was forced them to take shelter in Westerlands by Artys Arryn. The Eyrie is said to be nearly impossible to take in a traditional sieging manner, because one must trek up the steep mountain, while having arrows shot and rocks dropped upon them.

The House is founded by Artys Arryn. Who lead the Andals to the Vale and lead them to victory against House Royce, the Bronze Kings, and House Gryffin, the Griffin Kings. Artys Arryn was a very skilled Knight and a fast and precise sword fighter, known for his Falcon Armour.

House Arryn beat House Gryffin and House Royce for their right to rule the Vale.

They wear a crown of iron, made in the shapes of falcons in flight.

They have always been the followers of the Faith of the Seven and lead the Andal Invasion of the Vale.

* * *

A/N I will not mention the Houses in Dorne or the Riverlands as they have not conquered the entirety of Dorne and Riverlands respectively, and therefore not a Great House of Westeros yet.

* * *

King Tytos Lannister knew the North's strength was growing. It was theorized that they could currently match two of the six kingdoms alone with ease. At the rate they were growing they will be able to match three with ease by the next 100 years. He knew that he would need to curb his neighbour's strength, and his only chance for ever taking the North was with the support of all the other Great House of Westeros, House Durrandon, House Arryn, and House Gardener. He penned a letter to each of the Kings and sent out a raven to Storm's End, the Eyrie, and Highgarden, asking for a meeting at Casterly Rock.

* * *

After four moons, the Storm King, the King of the Mountain and the Vale, and the King of the Reach meet in the Casterly Rock. Casterly Rock was a massive structure built to be grander than any other keep. It is said only Highgarden could match its beauty, and only the Eyrie can match it in fortifications in the south. Their great wonder of man, the Hall of Gold was jaw dropping with the very hall having lines of gold criss crossing across the walls, ceiling, and floors displaying the wealth of the Lannisters. The throne room contained an imposing throne made of gold.

"We all know why we are here. The Northern heathens have become too powerful. Between our 4 kingdoms and the Seven's Faith Militant, we can destroy the North!"

"Why didn't you get the Mudd Kings involved as well?" asked King Merle "the Meek" Gardener.

"They are too divided trying to unite their lands and will be of no use to us." replied King Tytos.

"How would we get the Faith Militant to go to war with us?" asked King Maldon "Kinslayer" Durrandon.

"We offer them full access to the Northern region. They will jump at the chance to convert the only Kingdom who refuses to be converted."

"And how shall we divide the lands?" asked King Artys Arryn.

"I shall get the Iron Islands, the Flint Cliffs, the Rills, all the way to the Northern Mountains. House Arryn can receive, the Neck, the Three Sisters, the regions of Wolf's Guard, and White Harbor. House Gardeners can receive the regions of Winterfell, from the Lonely Lake to the Barrowlands. And House Durrandon shall receive everything else. Is this agreeable?"

"IT IS NOT! How is it that I receive some stupid frozen wastelands near the Wall, whilst you Lannister receive the Northern mountains which are rumored to contain silver and gems! The Gardeners receive one of the if not the greatest castle in the world, containing more books, artifacts, and gold then anywhere else in the North! And the fuckign Arryns get the most trade filled lands of the damned NORTH!" screamed King Maldon.

King Tytos snarled back "How would you like to divide the lands then kinslayer?"

"If I am to get the damned wastes that are the land near the wall, I want my son to marry your first born daughter Lannister with a dowery of 5000 Golden Wolves. I want the entire treasury of Winterfell, its books, and artifacts! And finally I want Artys Arryn to allow me to join the Northern trade routes for free!" bellowed King Maldon, whilst glaring at King Tytos for his insult.

Both Artys and Tytos screamed their chorus of no's, whilst King Merle tried to cover his fear of the wrothfilled King Maldon.

King Artys replied "I will let you join the Northern trade routes for a fee of 1000 Golden Falcons, and no additional fees until you die. After your death your family will need to pay House Arry 10% of their profits in trade to House Arryn."

"I will consider it okay for a fee of 500 Golden Wolves and 5% of profits.

"1000 Golden Wolves and 5% of profits. That is my final offer, kinslayer."

"Done. Now you, Lannister."

"I will be willing to give you a dowery of 1000 Golden Wolves."

"You are foolish if you think I will take anything less than 4000."

"I will give you 2500."

"Please your first born daughter is worth more than that Lannister, you know it. I will not go lower than 4000. I will not participate in this crusade otherwise!"

"Very well, how about 4000 Golden Wolves paid in 4 increments, every 5 years."

"If you don't hold you end of the bargain, I will take the might of the Stormlands and destroy the Westerlands."

"Agreed. As my father-in-law always said, a Lannister pays his debts."

"Now you Gardener, what say you!"

"That sounds agreeable. I must say, you seemed to have put a lot of thought into this King Tytos?" said King Merle trying to sound confidant.

"Of course I have. We are seeing more and more rumors of Northern silver and gems. Their Ironwood is the most useful wood in the world seconded by Weirwood, both of which they have. They have giants and mammoths, which while abominations in the name of the Seven, are an amazing workforce but also the greatest living war machines. They control the largest area of land, the best navy, and they now know how to make iron, and apparently special type of iron which are superior than ours." explained King Tytos. "If we allow this to continue we shall never be able to beat them. We must beat them now or forever be under their power. I was made privy to Argos Sevenstars Northern invasion plan. We can use that as the basis of our invasion."

"I agree and I can assure you the Faith Militant will follow you. As long as you allow the destruction of the Old Gods." said King Artys.

"All of us here are Andal now so there will be no objections from any of us."

All four Kings nodded to each, willing to fight the greater threat. But in all four minds they were already planning their betrayal of each other as soon as the House Stark fell.

"Very well, we shall meet with our armies in 5 moons in the beginning of the Neck. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

At that moment the Andal invasion of the North was planned.

* * *

The largest army the world has ever seen was assembled in the mouth of the Neck. A force of 98,000 men, made up of 22,000 Lannister men, 20,000 Durrandon men, 30,000 Gardener men, 16,000 Arryn men, and 10,000 of the Faith Militant. They had around 20,000 cavalry, 10,000 knights, ranging from sworn swords to hedge knights looking to make a name. The rest were small folk given a weapon. They were overconfident in their knight's ability and cavalry expecting the Northern 'heathens' to not know how to deal with cavalry.

It worked against the Bronze King of the Vale and the four kings were expecting the same thing against the North. King Artys, King Merle, and High Septon lead the army to Wolf's Watch, while King Tytos lead the Lannister navy to attack while King Maldon lead the Storm Navy to launch an attack at Oldcastle, the same way as Argos Sevenstar. Moral were high, with the different colorful banners flying high and proud, armours glinting in the sunlight. Ironic that the famed iron plate armour of the Andals, supposedly given by the Smith himself, were actually given to them by the Rhoynar of the Kingdom of the Rhoynish Rivers.

King Merle looked at his army marching slowly towards Wolf's Guard. Hard days fell upon the Army moving towards Wolf's Watch. Sickness fell upon his soldiers and the Craggnomen stole supplies, killed night guards, and poisoned their water supply. By the time they reached the outskirts of Wolf's Guard, 30,000 of their small folk deserted. Although they didn't know it then, some of the deserters with First Men decent was escorted to the North and given new lives. This gave the male population a big boost, allowing for more farmers and workers in the North.

King Merle rode up to the gates of Wolf's Guard and yelled as bravely as he could in the First Tongue, "King Thenar Stark! This is your last chance! As long as you give up your Gods, the Giants and the Children, the Iron Islands and the Three Sisters, you are your family will be allowed to continue ruling!"

"Hahaha! You think I will bow to some southerners! Wolf's Guard was built to stop any invasions from the South! Built by Giants, enchanted by the Children, and we are the Old God's champion! You think you and your Seven will save you up here! You are within the territories of the Old God now. Come face your death!"

Hearing such heresy, the High Septon road up to speak. "You Northern heathen, there is no place out of grasp of the power of the Seven Who are One. There is no Old Gods! The Seven shall grant us victor-"

Before he could continue, King Thenar spat on the High Septon and yelled "Did your Seven protect you from that? Or the losing your supplies or being poisoned? That's right, I know how weak your men are! Come here and we shall put your skulls and bones within the swamps of the Neck! WHICH WAS CREATED BY THE CHILDREN THROUGH THE OLD GOD'S POWER!"

Enraged the High Septon yelled "CHARGE!"

The Alliance men charged forward with the few siege equipment they had left, following their enraged leader. But as soon as they charged a wave of arrows flew towards the men. The first wave alone, killed a couple hundred men. By the time they reached the walls, more than a thousand men lay dead within the swamps and thousands had run away. With only two thirds of the force they had started and with all of their siege equipment broke to pieces, men got routed. When it seemed like nothing could get worse, the Stark men came through the gates. Giants, mammoths, men, direwolves, and shadowcats charged through. They cut down the cavalry which were stuck within the soft ground of the Neck. With men falling left right and center, the Alliance army could not mount an effective defense or counter attack. Their moral pullmetted, and their men surrendered by the hundreds.

Soon King Artys and King Merle and their lords were the only small groups of men left. They were surrounded by Stark men and their shield wall.

With no escape in sight, King Thenar moved to the front of the shield wall. He looked at them and said, "King Artys and King Garth, there is only one punishment suitable for attacking the North, and that is death. Your High Septon has already faced death from the volley of arrows."

King Artys looked up at him and yelled "FUCK YOU! I am the King of the Mountains and the Vale! You can't kill me! I am the only true King of the Andals! I crushed the First Men in the past, and I shall now! Our two navy is sailing towards the coast of the North! You can't win!"

"Even so you are trapped. And I could have my men kill you right now."

"I DEMAND MY BIRTHRIGHT AS A NOBLE! I DEMAND A TRIAL BY COMBAT!"

King Thenar's grin only grew more malicious and all the lords present swore they could feel a cold wind wash over them when he replied "Very well. Step forward. Only you, any other who attempts to step forward will be killed instantly. Follow me, we will do this the old way."

"How do I know I won't be killed as soon as I approach your men?"

King Thenar's was now smiling maliciously "Because your death has already been assured."

King Artys trusting King Thenar's words stepped towards the Stark men. The two soldiers he approached moved to form an opening and allow him through. Then an escort of 15 Stark men surround Artys and lead him towards the Wolf's Watch.

King Thenar turned to the other southern lords and said "Surrender and I will make sure you body reaches your families. Continue to fight and you will be stripped of your armour, make you beg for death before being merciful enough to grant it."

All the other lords and men immediately threw down their weapons and allowed themselves to be dragged off and restrained by the Stark men.

* * *

King Artys Arryn was escorted to the execution grounds of Wolf's Watch. All Northern castles had two main Weirwood trees. One for executions and the other for praying. This Weirwood tree had a grim dark face carved into the wood, as if it judged all who came to it.

King Thenar walked past him and knelt in front of the Weirwood tree giving it a quick prayer before standing back up and turning to King Artys.

"Take off you armor."

"What?"

"I said take of you armor you slow wit."

"How can I fight without my armour?"

"You wanted a trial by combat. This is the old way. The only true way. This way it is truly your skill that is tested. Not some fancy armour you buy. Now take off you armour or I will have my men beat you and then take it off."

"Fucking barbarians." snarled King Artys as he took off his famed Falcon armour.

King Thenar ignored King Artys words and took off his own wolf pelt cloak, his iron armour, down to only his pants and boots. The rest of the lords and King Merle was dragged to the weirwood trees with their arms bound tightly. Thenar drew the greatsword Ice from its sheath and Artys drew his longsword. The Stark men surrounded Artys and Thenar in a circle with their weapons drawn.

King Thenar said "The men will not interfere within this fight. If you attempt to run away they will throw you back. If you attempt to kill them, you will immediately be attacked by the other men. If by some chance you win, they will give you your armour back and a steed to ride back. This fight is to the death. There is no yielding only death."

"Cocky aren't you?"

"I have trained since the age of 5. I learned how to kill at the age of 9. I am now 45 and I have killed more than you ever have, I have trained more than you ever have, I have fought more than you ever have. I will not lose to some upstart Andal."

Artys snarled in anger and slashed at Thenar and was surprised at how quickly Thenar was able to move his head back to dodge the slash. Thenar quickly stabbed with his blade, forcing Artys to parry and back off. Thenar quickly followed up with and overhead arching slash. Artys brought his blade up to block the blow and follow up with a slash of his own. But his plans were immediately put on hold as he staggered at the immense force of the blow. Artys quickly had to move his feet positioning to not lose his footing. Thenar then kicked Artys in the chest sending him flying backwards. Artys quickly rolled to his side and got back up snarled in anger at how unperturbed Thenar seemed.

Thenar began to taunt Artys, "Ha, this is the man known as the best swordsman of the Andals? I only see a boy trying to play as a fighter."

Artys screamed in anger and charged at Thenar slashing, stabbing, and counter attacking from all different angles. Thenar surprised at Artys speed and strength, quickly backed off and began to block and dodge. Artys and Thenar were both tall, both standing at 170 centimeters tall, with the average being 165 centimeters, with Artys having the slightly longer arms. However. Artys was clearly weighed less then Thenar, Thenar's broad shoulders dwarfing Artys. Artys in his anger forgot his fighting style of speed and precision rather than speed and strength, left himself open to a counter attack as soon as his anger sapped and no longer fueled his strength.

Artys slashed sideways hoping to land a cut on Thenar, but Thenar brought Ice around to block the sword, pushing it backward. Thenar then used his elbow to smash into Artys nose. Artys' head snapped back in pain forcing him to quickly backstep. Wiping the blood from his nose Artys calmed down enough to focus back on his fight.

Thenar was surprised at the completely different fighting style that Artys fought with but Thenars experience allowed him to quickly adjust. He did however receive a small cut on his arm. The Northern men began their chant, at first not being heard at all over the clashing blades.

Thenar fought with strength and speed and whilst he had the advantage in both, Artys fought with the slightly better technique allowing the fight to drag on for much longer. However, Artys soon began to feel the cold sapping his strength and endurance. So when he moved his head back to dodge an attack he moved too slowly and received a cut over his right eye. Blood poured from this wound, forcing him to constantly wipe the blood away or have it blind him. They clashed for again for 10 minutes, Artys even performing a rolled the the side to dodge a killing blow from Thenar. Both men were injured, but Artys clearly favoured more wounds.

Thenar had a small wound on his left arm and right leg, a minor cut on his chest and back. Artys had his broken nose, cut above his eye, a cut of his right arm and right leg, and a bruise forming on his chest and left leg. Artys attempted to defend against Thenar's disarming maneuver, but with his lack of energy and wounds could not stop the blade from flying out of his hand. Not willing to give up Artys used his remaining strength to tackle Thenar to the ground. Thenar and Artys smashed into the ground and Ice was flung away in the fall. Artys reached for a weapon he could use to kill Thenar and reached for his blade.

However, when Artys reached over, Thenar twisted and flipped Artys on the ground instead and smashed Artys face with his fist. Thenar practiced Northern wrestling, whilst Artys only learned how to fight with blade and was completely out matched by Thenar without a weapon. Blood poured out of his wounds as Thenar smashed his face three times with his fist. Thenar hit so hard, his own fist was cut open and bloodied. Thenar then got off of Artys and grabbed Ice. When he turned around, he saw Artys completely bloodied but reaching for his sword.

Due to his honor Thenar couldn't kill Artys as he lay on the floor without access to his weapon, so waited for Artys to grasp his blade and barely get up. At this point the entire clearing is filled with the smashing of weapons and the war chants of the Northern men. Artys in one last desperate attempt, stabbed at Thenar but Thenar calmly side stepped and made a deep cut on Artys arm making him drop his blade. Artys knowing he was defeated dropped to his knees.

"You were one of the first families to attack the First Men. The First Men would have left you alone if you just declared war on the Bronze and Griffin Kings, instead you attacked our culture and our religion. Your family made this war personal. You killed the Children of the Forest and burned the great Weirwood trees. Then you went even further and dared a war against the North. You disgust me. As for your two navies, we knew of their coming moons ago." said King Thenar.

King Thenar then pulled back Ice and beheaded Artys, his blood feeding the Weirwood tree and becoming a part of the Old Gods which Artys fought so hard to destroy.

King Thenar then gestured to King Merle to be brought over. King Merle struggled in fear trying to throw off his bindings.

"Please, the Reach is extremely fertile. We can give you all the food you want! We can give you gold! Anything, just please let me live!" begged King Merle.

"Stop grovelling. You are the descendents of Garth "the Greenhand"! The last High King of the First Men! Yet you betrayed your long and great history to some men with shiny weapons! You did not even fight as all other Kings, except the Lannisters, had. You do not deserve you history." roared King Thenar with hate and disappointment. "I, King Thenar Stark, the thirteenth of my name. The High King in the North and the Isle. The embodiment of winter and the storms. High Magnar of Winterfell. King of the First Men, Children of the Forest, and the Giants, and Magnar Protector of the Realm sentence you to death."

His great sword was raised high in the air and in a sweeping arc, King Merle was no more. All other lords of the south were also beheaded in front of the Weirwood tree, with their bodies returned to their respective homes. However, Kings Artys Arryns body and entrails was hung upon the newly sprouted Weirwood tree at the mouth of the Neck. His legendary Falcon armour and Falcon crown would be added into the Halls of Artifacts.

The arrow filled corpses of the High Septon and the destruction of Faith Militant, earned King Thenar earned his new nicknames as the 'Andal Breaker' 'Kingslayer' and 'Sevenslayer'.

* * *

Crowned Prince Theon Stark sailed his navy around to ambush House Durrandon. As soon as they heard about the meeting in Casterly Rock, they knew they were going to be attacked. When the King's Men reported King Tytos and King Maldon ordering their navy to start moving they knew of the naval invasion. Crowned Prince Theon radiated anger, thinking about King Maldon, who slew his friend and ally.

Crowned Prince Theon was a genius tactician in both naval and land combat. He had made his battle plans and only needed bait. At the dead of night, he sailed towards the Storm Navy, rowing carefully when approaching the navy which had set anchor a few dozen kilometers outside of Gulltown. Due to the size of the Eastern Fleet, they discovered them a league away. However, Prince Theon wanted them to approach the Storm Navy as silently as possible, and as soon as they were discovered they started to sail again and ram the sides of the boat.

Most of the crew of the Storm Navy, was asleep with only a skeleton crew of left to guard. They had only expected to have to fight the Eastern Navy, when they approached Oldcastle. By the time all of the crew members was awake and trying to save their boats, they were rammed by the hull of the Eastern Fleet, which was reinforced by Ironwood, crafted by the Forresters. The outer line of boats were all destroyed, as the Ironwood cut through the Storm Navy like water.

King Maldon knowing that they were going to lose, ordered his ship: the flagship of the Storm Navy, _Storm Rusher_ , to turn around and leave. King Maldon and the ships near him were able to make a retreat back to the volcanic rocks near the Blackwater Bay. They could not sail to Gulltown, as the Starks blocked that route and Gulltown was not informed of their movements as an attack.

All survivors of the wrecked ships were taken to the North. As they were skilled in sailing they would be useful as traders. So they were given the option, just like the deserters, to either get killed or join the North. Many of the First Men, unhappy with King Marlon and his kinslaying, happily joined the North.

* * *

A month has passed since the naval battle between the Storm Navy and Eastern Fleet. Crowned Prince Theon starred on top of Winter Wind, his personal ship. Prince Theon had won every battle and skirmish, forcing the Storm Navy to perform a full retreat back to Storm's End.

Prince Theon was planning on sacking the entire castle. After studying King Brandon 'the Builder' blueprints, he constructed his attack plan. He looked ahead and ordered the invasion to begin. Small longboats slowly sailed towards Storm's End in the darkest night, where not even the moon shines.

After around an hour, Prince Theon began to worry that their first plan had failed. But before he could begin Plan B, his men sent the signal. The remaining Storm Navy, which numbers dwindled down to just over a hundred ships around half of what they had in the beginning of the war, lit up in a massive flame. The fires soon began to grow out of control, and although the Durrandon men had woken up and attempt to quench the flames, it grew to be unstoppable.

As soon as the fire started Prince Theon and his Fleet sailed to the docks. With no boats, the Durrandons could not stop them from landing. With the Giants, Children of the Forest, and men they were able to march up to Storm's End relatively quickly.

The men using the shield wall formation with the Giants were able to repel the arrows being shot at them. A couple of men died due to rocks and barrels of hot oil being thrown at them, however, the main force was able to stand strong against the repelling of the Durrandons.

The Children took 10 minutes to take away the enchantments put into Storm's End. The magic of Storm's End was loosely woven around the castle and was very easy to destroy. No object that big could be tightly covered with magic, with Winterfell being the only odd exception. Without the powerful enchantments, the gates which would have taken the Giants 15 minutes to bash through, the Giants were able to bash it open with a makeshift batterram in 3. The men rushed inside, killing the guards and archers. The men poured up to the walls to slay the archers, who were no longer protected by the walls. Crowned Prince Theon had made his way to the main keep and burst through into the throne room.

The fight was bloody. Storm's End was a formidable castle, even without the enchantments added by the Children. But with four dozen giants and 10,000 men, what should have taken a minimum of 15,000 men and 6 moons with major losses, took only a day.

Crowned Prince Theon saw King Maldon fully armoured standing in front of his throne. Crowned Prince Theon charged at King Maldon and the ensuing battle was a battle of legends, which would be sung about for thousands of years.

King Maldon wielded a newly forged massive war hammer. Prince Theon knew he wouldn't be able to block the hammer many times, so he got in close. Shortening the range King Maldon had to work with. Starting with a jab, he step towards King Durran. Expecting this move, King Maldon was able to sidestep in time, but he wasn't expecting Prince Theon to be strong or quick enough to retaliate immediately with a slash. Prince Theon was a gaunt and lanky looking man. He towered over most men, at a height of 174 centimeters tall. Whilst he wasn't weak by any means, he was not as heavily built as other Starks. This lead him to often looking skinny, and being underestimated. Hastily stepping back, King Maldon was put into the defensive. Prince Theon wielded greatsword which seemed heavy to most people, but because it was made of Winteriron, it was surprisingly light and allowed for more maneuverability for the wielder.

In a defensive position, King Maldon could barely block all the attacks, being forced constantly on the back step and given no opportunity to attack. Desperate, he swung his mighty war hammer. Not expecting him to be able to retaliate quickly enough, Prince Theon was surprised. He barely duck out of the way and he had lost the advantage. They were trading blows after blows. To most people, it would seem as though they were evenly matched, but a skilled warrior could see Prince Theon was the slightly better fighter.

King Maldon also could see this, so he stepped back and attacked with a side swing. However, instead of trying to hit Prince Theon, he aimed for his sword. As soon as it made contact, the blade flew out of Prince Theon's hand, flew 10 meters away and stuck the stone floor with a loud clang.

King Maldon then put all of his power into a heavy overhand swing forcing Prince Theon to jump and roll out of the way. The First Men prefer wearing leather armor instead of the heavy plate mail worn by the Andals. Prince Theon was dressed in a hard boiled leather chest plate, with iron armor for his arms and shoulders and greaves. Without the heaviness of plate armor, Prince Theon was able to dodge all of the hammer blows.

When King Maldon put up to much strength into one of his attacks, Prince Theon sidestepped, quickly kicked him straight on his arm. King Maldon being unbalanced from his attack was unable to defend himself. King Maldon flew to his side, hitting the ground and looked up to face Prince Theon's fist. It connected with a crack, making King Maldon dizzy enough for Prince Theon to get on top of him and keep punching. King Maldon's Durrandon blood sung with rage and anger. Rage flowed through King Maldon and with his fury filled strength bucked Theon away.

He quickly got up and looked for his hammer. Seeing it a few paces behind him, he turned around and retrieved it. But as soon as he turned around to face Prince Theon, his hammer was knocked out of his hand. King Maldon was confused to see that it was a sword knocking the blade away from his hands. The watchers would know that, King Maldon accidentally kicked Prince Theon towards his Greatsword.

King Maldon would then be forced to dodge and weave against Prince Theon's fast strikes. Knowing he had no chance with his plate armour quickly shed the armour with his knife. This allowed King Maldon to move much quicker, but it also left him far more vulnerable to his attacks. King Maldon in desperation, threw his dagger at Theon's face. Theon leaned his head back and was barely able to dodge the dagger. It however left a small cut on his cheeks. When he came back up to face King Maldon, he found himself tackled out of the hall into the courtyard. Landing on his back, Prince Theon had to block King Maldon's powerful punches. Prince Theon knew Maldon was stronger, however, Theon had practiced Northern wrestling since as a child and where he learned how to make up for his lack up strength through technique. This allowed Theon to dodge and deflect one of Maldon's wild punches. Maldon scream in pain as his fist struck the hard ground as hard as he could. Using this opening, Theon was able to get both of his legs on one side of Maldon and throw him off. Theon then kicked the side of Maldon's right damaging the joint. While on Maldon was on his knee, Theon kicked Maldon in the chest forcing him back onto the ground. Instead of reaching of his Greatsword like Maldon had tried, Theon instead stamped on King Maldon's hand, crushing it underneath his boots, following his attack up with a kick to the downed King's face. Dazed, King Maldon was unable to stomp to the stomach and he instinctively protected his face. Maldon gasped as the air forcefully left his lungs.

Prince Theon after utterly crippling Maldon walked back into the keep and grabbed Ice from where it fell. He turned around and was surprised to see King Maldon on his legs. His legs were wobbling and he was clearly favouring his left knee, however, it was still impressive he was standing at all. Prince Theon walked to King Maldon, who wobbled towards Theon.

"Durran sends his fucking regards. May he laugh at your torment at the hands of the Old Gods." said the Crowned Prince.

He then with a mighty swing, lopped off King Maldon's head.

* * *

It has been a moon since his fight with King Maldon "the Kinslayer". Prince Theon was now given the name "Stormbreaker". Prince Theon knew he couldn't hold Storm's End and have it be beneficial for the North. They were still guarding the room with all the court ladies, children, and Prince now King Durran. They fed them by leaving food outside their door, then leaving for 1 hour. Prince Theon was too honorable to kill the defenseless women and children or let his men rape the court ladies. Besides, the North had no real interest of any kingdom below the Neck, other than some of the islands. So instead Prince Theon decided to loot and break Storm's End.

He found a few chests of gold, silver, and gems. He took weapons, took tapestries, good artworks, good furniture, and gathered raw materials. He sent all of it back with a quarter of his boats led by his younger brother, Rodrik Stark, a capable warrior and effective leader, to take back the treasures to Winterfell. He then broke the gates, had the giants tear down parts of the wall, and broke the forge. He knew these people would be fine because the Storm Army was coming to retake Storm's End and Prince Durran was a great fighter, as good as or better than his father, and was respected by all of the lords in the Stormlands. This only damages Storm's End which means House Durrandon would need to spend time fixing and rebuilding their lands before they could focus on attacking anywhere else.

Then just a week before the Storm Army arrived with three fourths of his navy, he went to towns and settlements in both the Reach and the Stormlands to offer the first men small folk a place in the North with the Old Gods. Many small folk took the offer and decided to travel. The North while very successful, still had a very low population compared to the other Kingdoms. He also stole harvest, chopped down lumber, and carried away anything that could be of value. He also beat any and all opposition from the Reach and Stormlands. He did this by avoiding the main Durrandon and Gardener armies, and destroying the scouting forces. He also sacked many castles, or their respective towns, in the Stormlands, Vale, and Reach: Evenfall Hall, Bronzegate, Blackhaven, Mistwood, Nightsong, Sharp Point, Greenstone, Longbow Hall, Ironoaks, Runestone, Gull Town, Old Anchor, Grassy Vale, Longtable, Cinder Hall, Ashford, Bitterbridge, and Goldengrove. He ordered no one from the Eastern Navy ever enter the Riverlands and Dorne, as they remained neutral in this invasion. He single handedly ruined the Vale, and the Stormlands, and helped in the Burning of the Reach. 60% of everything recovered went to Winterfell and the North, while the rest was given to the soldiers.

With all these new resources, Prince Theon went back to the North as a hero. He was given the name "the Hungry Wolf" for his gaunt and skinny appearance. The army and the smallfolk would argue about which of his names was more appropriate.

However, Prince Theon was not finished in his revenge, he was very pissed at the Andals and decided to retaliate by attacking the Andal homelands, Andalos. He pillaged and stole from Andalos Hills, destroying House Sevenstar for attacking the North. He would burn three Andal Houses, who had attacked his men at night and sought refuge at the nearby sept. Theon would bar the doors and light the fire that destroyed the entire sept and the three Houses. He also raided the legendary tomb of Hugh of the Hill, burning the entire tomb to the ground, after taking the Seven Stared Crown, the original copy of the Seven-Pointed Star, and all of the riches buried with the legendary figure, which only increased his reputation as one of the most dangerous Stark in history. The south will whisper about Theon "the Hungry Wolf", and his actions for millenniums. His actions during the first Andal Crusade would be debated for years in ethics discussion, as well as studied during strategy class. He was the perfect example of a Stark. Honorable, loyal, truthful, and blunt, and when angered he was dangerous, wild, ruthless and protective.

* * *

On the other side of the world, a few moon's back. King Tytos was atop his ship and the flagship of the Lannister Navy, Golden Lion. He was unaware of the massive failures and death that his allies was currently facing or doomed to face. His navy was sailing towards Pyke, the home of the Greyjoys, the High Magnar of the Iron Islands. They knew Magnar Yara Greyjoy and Prince Brandon was his opposition.

King Tytos knew of Yara and Brando, and their betrothal. He also knew that they have yet to fail a single raid of the Westerlands. It was not just small raids of minor towns, they had successfully raided and burned parts of major keeps such as the Crag and even Lannisport. He had planned to go straight for Pyke and not get lured to a prolongs sea battle anywhere.

As he neared island of Pyke, he saw a small part of the Iron Fleet attacking the side of his navy.

Understanding the enemies plan he yelled out, "Don't follow them. You may try and sink them but do not follow them!"

After a few minutes of attacking the ships sailed away, moving much faster due to the Ironborns favouring the Longship. Thirty minutes later they once again attacked from another side, hoping to draw them out. The boats left just like the other had, after sinking a few of his ships, without losing a single one of their ships. Ignoring these few minor skirmishes, their ships had landed on a beach. Lannister men dismounted and attempted to make it up the beach before. However, as they made their way up, they began to face waves of arrows kill dozens of Lannister men with each arrow.

King Tytos was shocked "GET BACK TO THE BOATS! THEY SOMEHOW KNEW WE WERE GOING TO LAND HERE!"

He turned around and tried to make it back to his boat. King Tytos was very confused. How did they know that they were going to land on this particular beach? The Longships could not have predicted their destination, sailed back to Pyke, inform their leaders, and have them prepared and ready for their landing. It was simply not possible.

King Tytos barely got atop of Golden Lion and pushed out of the beach, before he was shot off the boat, landing on the soft sand and passing out.

* * *

He shot awake to the screams of men and saw the Golden Lion in half, splintered by the Old Kraken, the ship of High Magnar Yara Greyjoy. She attacked Lannister men with two small hatchets, throwing them at enemies with one, then killing another with the other, retrieving the first, then repeating the process. Prince Brandon, the youngest of the Stark brothers wielded a war spear and throwing daggers.

Fucking pissed, he pulled grabbed a fallen soldiers blade, having lost his in the fall off of his ship, and charged at Yara. It would have been a close fight even without his head ringing from being thrown off of his boat but with the ringing head and blurring vision, he made mistakes after mistakes which Yara took advantage of cutting him and his armor off. With his right arm exposed, she swung hard down on his arm cutting the right one off. When he was recoiling from the pain, Yara swung her hatchet down on his head, ending King Tytos' life.

Meanwhile Prince Brandon was fending off 10 foot soldiers trying to support their King. He was watching them approaching him carefully. Knowing that he would not win, if all of them attacked him at once, decided to strike first. He charged, stabbing one in the heart with his spear, he took his right hand off of the spear to throw one of his throwing knives into the closest man. He then yanked out the spear and spun it, smacking another soldier in the face, forcing him to recoil further away. He then kicked another one soldier into another one, throwing both of them into the ground before stabbing the top soldier with his spear and pining the other one. Not having enough time to pull out the spear, he jumped away as a blade comes down on him. He then charges the soldier who attacked him, deflecting the next attack with his throwing knife and stabs the man in the eye with the dagger.

He still had three blades, so he threw one into another soldier's throat, then held both daggers. He charged at a soldier, who retaliated with an overhead swing. He blocked it with his two daggers, then pulled off one of the blades out of the lock holding the sword up with the dagger held in his right hand, and stabbed the soldier in his neck with the one on his left. He immediately pulled it out and threw it into another soldier who was charging him. He quickly looked at the situation and saw that there were two men left, and his spear in behind them. He kicked the sand towards the soldier closest to him, blinding the soldier. He threw his last dagger at the other soldier. Prince Brandon ran to grab the spear. He quickly turned and stabbed the new soldier who came running after him, in the mouth. The blade of the spear came out the back of his head. Before the soldier could fall down and trap his spear, Brandon yanked it out.

The three guys left looked both in shock and awe. They were all favouring injuries from the fight, as they were blinded man, the soldier who was trapped underneath the other soldier and spear, and finally the soldier who was smacked in the jaw with his spear. Deciding to end this quickly Prince Brandon just charged the closest one and stabbed his hand, forcing the man to drop his sword. Prince Brandon kicked another soldier away, then backed up against a turned over boat. He then stepped forward to stab one of the soldiers in the neck with his spear and smacked the one with the injured hand with the end of his spear. He pulled the spear out with his right hand and threw it into the other soldier who was kicked away. He then walked over to the last guy on the floor dazed from being smashed in the face, and stabbed him with his own sword.

* * *

The battle was a death trap for the Lannisters. Many Lannister men died in this pointless endeavor. The waves of arrows and the Ironborn Besearkers cut through the untrained Lannister forces like cheese. Magnar Yara and Prince Brandon then sailed the Iron Fleet down south, to the Westerlands and sacked the entire region. Without a navy a lot of Lannisport got burned to the ground, after all valuables were stolen. They wished to sack Casterly Rock, but could not as the Ironborn were reavers. Out of all the goods, 40% of it went to Winterfell and House Stark, and 30% went to Pyke and House Greyjoy, and the rest were given to the soldiers. With no navy or army, the quick raids of the Ironborn was unstoppable. The Crag, Feastfire, Kayee, Faircastle, Crakenhall, Old Oak, Oldtown, and Three Towers were all ransacked. They ignored Brightwater Keep and Honeyholt, and went straight to Horn Hill. Lord Tarly was with the army that tried to attack the North and he had yet to return meaning the castle was manned by his young son.

Yara Greyjoy's younger brother, Jameson Greyjoy took three salt wives. One was a daughter of House Lannister, one came from House Hightower, and one came from House Gardener. He would be one of the last members of the Ironborn nobility to take salt wives.

* * *

House Arryn's heir was a 9 year old boy and could not rule effectively. Everybody doubted him, questioned him, and gave him contradicting advice, which lead to no action being taken to stop the North for 5 years, before King Jon Arryn put his foot down and started to lead the country himself. During those 5 years, the Vale became a mess and King Jon Arryn would spend the rest of his live putting the Vale back together. The combination of the recent assimilation to the Andal culture and damage caused by House Stark lead to the Vale having a long recovery period. By then, House Stark was able to steal the all of the major trade routes, attracting the all of trade guilds and traders from Essos with the Wolf Canal which allowed for trade boats to reach the other side of Westeros far faster. White Harbor was a very useful place to stop and restock before going through the canal and useful in trading through the land by caravan.

* * *

House Durrandon was able to immediately start putting the Stormlands back together, as Prince Durran IX, now King Durran IX, was a very good ruler, and was able to his country back together faster than House Arryn, but it still would take his son's generation to be able to heal from the Northern retaliation, and a few more generations before their lands had assimilated to the Andal culture.

* * *

House Gardener also fared just slightly better than House Arryn. The heir of House Gardener, was also a kid of 9, but he was able to take control at the age of 13 rather than 14 and he was able to start slightly further ahead of the Arryn's. King Merle Gardener's grandson would put the Reach back together, praying that no winter longer than a year or two would come.

* * *

House Lannister fared the best out of all the 4 great houses that attacked the North. King Tytos' son Tyrion was a ruthless but effective leader. He was able to put the Westerlands back together from the Northern retaliation by his death. He was known for putting down rebellions and bandits quickly and ruthlessly, making an example of them every time. The First Men, scared of King Tyrion's ruthlessness did not make much protests against the assimilation of the Andal culture and by King Tyrion's son the Westerlands had been assimilated to the Andal culture.

* * *

The Seven took a devastating hit. They had just came to the Westeros with many of the smallfolk being used to the Old Gods. When the Septon tried killing the Old Gods believers, they got beaten, killed, and sent back by the smallfolk who all practiced wrestling, a fun past time for the children. The fact that the Seven required you to make donations and follow hundreds of rules and make a dozen donation, while the Old Gods only required you to tend the Weirwood trees and follow very few rules, lead to far less conversions then they had hoped and true Old God believers had moved to the North.

* * *

Five years the North has been ransacking the southern lands and the four Great Houses got together with King Thenar and begged him to stop.

King Thenar replied with, "I will stop, but only if you meet my demands. First, you must give me 20 chest filled with precious gems, gold, and silver. Second, you must give me 50 carts full of wheat and food. Third, I need the Shield islands, Fair Isle, and the Arbor. You will have 3 moons to comply. Should you attempt to perform a sneak attack, all attacks shall begin once more. It is irrelevant if only one House performs the sneak attack. All other House will suffer for the other's actions."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: **JosephLeeCollins** , yes I do need to work on my capitalization and I am trying to be very conscious of it. For your other point, the North has experience set backs, they are minimized and down played in this story cause most of the time jumps are done by a book written by Northerners about their history so it is very biased. Lost battles are glossed over, hence, their seemingly problemless history.

 **raw666** , while the Starks blame the Gardeners heavily for giving up their culture, many of the Smallfolk are still following the beliefs of the First Men. This means that salting the fields would have just ruined their lives, while the Gardener would probably not be terribly effected, other than economically.

, just wait and see what happens.

 **Critas** , you addressed you first point, the Starks have been fostering nationalism within their country for millenniums and they don't know much about Essos other than the Valyrain colonies, the Rhoynar, and Gishcari. The Seven isn't real because there is no proof of their existence in the books. Wargs, Green seers, etc exist as proof for the Old Gods. R'hllor legit brings people back from the dead. Storm Gods, Drowned Gods, etc, exist cause in my mind they just appear to be a named god of nature, while the Old Gods are just all of the many gods of nature, both unnamed and named.

 **AO Black** , of course Nationalism is a thing in other kingdoms. However, every kingdom except the North is attempting to do a fully cultural conversion. Something that hasn't successfully happened, at least to my knowledge, anywhere. The First Men smallfolk are already pissed and angry. There hasn't been enough time for the cultural assimilation to happen yet. The Seven haven't been fully integrated into the Kingdoms either. So the Andal smallfolk may try to rebel but they don't even make up for half of the population yet. Am I making sense? Had there been like around 200-300 years before the Southern Kings declared war against the Starks, such a move shouldn't have been possible for the very reasons you have mentioned. But they declared war while they were in a very unstable position.

To everybody else, thank you so much for the review I appreciate every single one, please keep them coming.

* * *

After the First Andal Crusade against the North, the North became known as the Grey Heart of Westeros. House Redwyne, House Lux, and House Black swore themselves to House Greyjoy. House Redwynes was furious at the Gardeners and their demand to abandon their ancestral home with the Redwyne fleets or face death. House Redwynes spit upon the Gardener's demands and swore fealty to House Greyjoy. With the newly conquered islands, House Stark was able to award it to new Magnars, who proved themselves in the war, also known as the Andal's Folly, Andal's Breaking, or the Seven's Failure.

House Lux was awarded the Fair Isle. James Lux was a half northern, half western soldier, that saved Magnar Jameson Greyjoy's life. He took on the name Lux, with a golden sun rising over the blue ocean as his sigil. Their words were to be, from dawn we watch. He then swore himself to House Greyjoy and had command of a part of the Western navy. Enough to slow down the Lannisters Navy should they decide to attack the North again.

House Black was given the Shield Island. House Black was an old Northern House. One could trace their ancestors back to the first Magnars to swear himself to House Stark. Their keep in the Neck fell into disrepair as they failed to make significant amount of money. Instead of rebuilding, they had decided to travel through Essos, collecting wealth and knowledge. They had come back to Winterfell 3 years before the attack and was looking to purchase some land from House Stark before the fight. They kept faith with House Stark, even though they were away for centuries. King Thenar awarded them the island because of their history and their eagerness to prove themselves to House Stark. They had also sworn themselves to House Greyjoy.

* * *

Seven years after the Andal Invasion, King Thenar "the Diligent" Stark died, and Crowned Prince Theon "the Hungry Wolf" Stark was crowned. As all the previously Stark Kings did, he looked over all of the items in the North. Everything seemed to be well till he reached the Night's Watch. After Brandon "the Breaker" killed the Night's King and Queen, he enacted strict policies to ensure the neutrality of the wall. He could now see it's effects after 2000 years. The Night Fort was beginning to be abandoned and so were two other forts. Whilst this downward decline was very minimal, it was a steady decrease. Whilst the North remembers the necessity of the Night's Watch and the Wall, the southern kingdoms and Andal culture in their dislike of the North, sent fewer and fewer criminals to the Wall. Even with the House Stark's power, they couldn't man the entire Wall themselves and still have an army to defend against the South. So after 3 days of deliberation and praying, he made a bold decision.

He went to the Wall with half of his army and went to the Magnar Commander and said "After taking a close look at the Wall, I have decided to rework the Night's Watch. They have slowly fallen over the 2000 years. Already three forts have been abandoned. Instead they shall be gifted to different houses to rule, all with the singular purpose to watch for the White Walkers."

There was protest from men of the Night's Watch yelling in outrage.

"Members of the Night's Watch, I am not doing this as because of the current members. I do this solely because I fear that the Night's Watch will continue to fall in disrepair and they will not be adequate defense from the White Walker. The order will still exist, and work in tandem with the Magnar of the Wall."

The Magnar Commander Jorah Mormont said "The Wall has maintained 2000 years of neutrality and the Night's Watch has been an honorable institution." with this many men murmured in agreement. "But, King Theon Stark is correct, Brandon "the Builder" Stark built this wall to keep out the White Walkers. The Night's Watch was the defense against the White Walkers and their Night King. It has been written in over 100 books in both the Wall and the Great Library of Winterfell. We are starting to fail in manning and guarding the wall. We have less and less volunteers, I fear in another thousand years, we will not be able to properly use the Brandon's gift. Soon enough, barely any of the forts along the Wall will be manned. To disagree with King Theon, we would be failing the sole reason which the Night's Watch was built upon."

Magnar Jorah then turned to King Theon and asked, "King Theon, do you truly believe that this will be the best course of action to stop the White Walkers should they return?"

"I do."

"Then I shall do as you say. The Order of the Night's Watch shall still remain separate from the Kingdoms, however, we shall work in tandem with the Magnars of the Wall."

"I shall form the Houses that shall man the wall now. Magnar Commander Mormont. How is the Magnar of the Shadow Tower?"

"His name is Jameson Shadow. He says that his first name was given after a past Stark King that helped his grandfather. His last name was given because of his remarkable ability to blend in with the shadows. He was a very capable ranger, only stepping down as the First Ranger to become the acting Magnar of the Shadow Tower."

"Very well, please inform Jameson Shadow that he is the new Magnar of the Shadow Tower all the way till the Greyguard. He shall be known as the first Magnar of House Shadow, and he must make his own sigil and choose his house words. He must also visit Castle Back to swear oaths to House Blackwatch. Now who is the acting Magnar of Eastwatch-by-Sea?"

"A fifth born son of House Umber, your Grace. His name is Jon Umber and he knew that it would be very unlikely for him to be able to inherit anything, so he joined the knights watch. He is both a skilled warrior and a skilled builder."

"Again, inform him that he has to take on a new name, rather than Umber, new words, sigil, and maybe a better name for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. He must renounce all of his claims on the Umber holding and he must swear his oaths to House Blackwatch and shall be Magnar of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea with hopefully a better name. He shall guard all the way to the Long Barrow."

He did this for two other forts. House Sable was formed, reaching forts thirteen to fifteen, which included Woodswatch-by-the-Pool, Sable Hall, and Rimegate. They took were to take Sable Hall as their Keep. House Icemark was formed as well, reaching from forts five through nine, which included Stonedoor, Hoarfrost Hill, Icemark, Nightfort, and Deep Lake. He made them come to Castle Black and swear themselves to House Blackwatch.

Finally, King Theon turned to Magnar Commander Mormont asked, "And what is your story?"

"I am the third born son of House Mormont. But I also have two older sisters so I will be the last to inherit anything. Rather than hoping and waiting, I decided it would be better for me to move on, and try to make my name as a member of the Night's Watch. I believe I have done well for myself."

"An interesting story, Magnar Commander Mormont. Your dedication to the Night's Watch is extraordinary. Such loyalty must be rewarded. I name you Magnar Blackwatch, Magnar of Castle Black, Guardian of the forts ten through twelve, High Magnar of the Wall. After receiving your oaths from House Shadow, House Sable, House Icemark, and House Eastwatch, you are to get married and continue your line as the High Magnar of the Wall and the Fire that Burns against the Cold."

Magnar Blackwatch looked at King Theon in pure shock, before remembering his manners and said "Thank you so much, your grace. I don't deserve this honor."

"You purpose remains the same. Only this time you may marry to continue your line. Your own personal guard will be the new watchers on the Wall. This way, you can grow on your own, without having to rely upon other Houses. You and the five new Magnars will be the only members of the Night's Watch which shall be allowed to hold their titles, to allow a smoother transition. However, after you step down from the position, the Night's Watch must elect their own new commanders to organize the Watch."

* * *

King Ignotus "the Administrator", began to feel the stress of ruling a large successful country like the North as the single central government system. Worried by the size of their country and the difficulties faced in raising a large host, as the Starks needed to properly collect and position their men, King Ignotus began to combat such inefficiencies.

First the variation in laws and ruling by the different Magnars were handled by King Ignotus, when he developed the first code of concrete laws for the North. It was heavily influenced by the old way and was reinforced to all Magnars of the North. They were allowed to deal with local issues, such as economic downturns, property disputes, criminal proceedings, while following the system of law. While the House Stark focused upon their own lands, major projects of their countries, developing and maintaining a fair system of laws, inspiring loyalty within the people, etc.

King Ignotus also worked on developing the communication system of the North. Common messages/commands in summer were handled with a raven, while during winter it would be handled by a squadron of sled riders. More important letters/commands was denoted by a personal messenger. Each Magnars were commanded to maintain as many messengers as there were villages and cities within their lands, so when a host was required, each Magnar could collect them quickly. This in combination with the Great Northern Roads to the major castles and the dirt road to surrounding towns and villages, allowed for effective communication throughout the North.

King Ignotus' laws and communication system would be the foundation upon further Northern development.

* * *

Around a thousand year had passed with many Stark Kings. Soon the Dornish and the North had an unspoken agreement to leave the Northern trade routes to the North and the Southern trade routes to the Martells and Dayne, allowing them raising their strength and wealth. The North having one of the biggest forests in the known world, kept and maintained by the Children of the Forest, became a major export in timber and wood and many different wood working techniques. The Daynes secured a good alliance with House Stark for keeping with the First Men culture and were able to use Northern woods to form a great fleet with many trade and military boats.

Ignotus' propaganda begins to take root in the Northern culture with the hero worship of the Starks. Most Northerners were very pleased with their just and fair rulers, whose ideas and visions allowed them a better livelihood. Victories won by House Starks were reenacted by children, and their scholars were revered by many. This worked in unifying the land into a single culture group, as well as providing them with an ingroup that they could rally behind and defend. All of the Northern Smallfolk have an identity as a Northerner, while many of the other smallfolk or peasants in the world, have no sense of identity and therefore care not for who they are ruled by.

* * *

 **2101 years AW:** Crowned Prince Osric "the Blacksmith" would develop metal casting as a new technique of blacksmithing, allowing for greater production and much more fine and decorative works.

 **2131 years AW:** Crowned Prince Brandon "the Apprentice" would develop a technique to forge steel. Then he had the Children enchant the steel to make Wintersteel blades. The original Crown of Winter and Ice was reforged out of this more durable and stronger material. The original items being placed in the Hall of Artifacts. While the North would attempt to keep the method hidden in the North, soon the secret began to make its way into the Westerlands. Not being able to keep this secret for much longer, House Stark began to sell the knowledge to gain funds. This knowledge of how to forge steel would make its way to Essos, where House Belaerys would modify this knowledge to create the legendary Valyrian Steel.

 **2147 years AW:** Second Andal Crusade had no success as they break against the walls of Wolf's Watch.

 **2374 years AW:** First Bolton Invasion had no success. While the Boltons supported the Greystark Rebellion centuries ago, this was their first solo attempt at taking the North.

 **2379 years AW:** Third Andal Crusade had minimal success due to weakened troops of the First Bolton Invasion. They make ground through the Stony Shore, however, the combined forces of House Stark, Greywolf, and Ryswell repels them back.

 **2513 years AW:** King Roose "Bloodwolf" Stark after a decade of infiltration, steals the secrets of glass making from Myr using his wargs and more than 3 dozen spies, allowing the North to produce glassworks. He gifts this knowledge to House Greywolf as Winterfell has no sand to use nearby. This begins a bloody trade war between the Myr and the North that has yet to cease.

 **2590 years AW:** House Greywolf using the sand from the Stoney Shore to create great glassworks bring great wealth to their House. Myr and House Greywolf are in constant competition to produce more delicate and more beautiful works of art. This lowers the prices of glass slightly, however, it is not lowered greatly as the two areas learn about Game Theory. King Roose also puts a tariff upon Myrish glass, to stimulate and grow the Greywolf glass.

 **2668 years AW:** King Artos "the Clean Wolf" Stark introduced the bathing house. It is said that King Artos stepped out onto the walls of the middle area of the Wintercity and smelled the growing stink. The men from the middle area and outwards did not have enough money to bathe often, only being able to bathe once a month with the poor having to wash in the nearby river. Due to the weather of the North, that was not often. Therefore, he chose to use the vasts hot springs under Winterfell to make the bathing houses.

All bathing houses in Wintercity was owned by the Starks. The rich area had nice large bathing houses, allowing far more privacy and grandeur. But for the lower classes, the bathing houses were smaller and more compact, however, because of the cheap prices the small folk would use it at least use the bathing house once a week, bringing a large amount of wealth to House Stark.

 **2798 years AW:** Queen Hannah "the Clever" would spend vasts amounts of money to build a dozen great glass gardens in Winterfell to produce more food for themselves and have another steady source of food in case of a siege. She would only build them in Winterfell to have more of their vassals be reliant upon House Stark come winter.

 **2810 years AW:** House Redwyne after marrying with many Northern women, had slowly switching their ways back to the First Men. Their wines brought them great wealth because it was popular among the wealthy southern lords. Whilst other lords can produce their own wines, it was not nearly as good as Arbor Gold.

Seeing this untapped market, House Stark decided to make other alcoholic beverages. After many trials, they had made Stark Clear, a clear alcoholic beverage that would warm you when you drink it and Nordic Ale, another cheap alcoholic beverage for the small folk. Unlike Arbor Red, the Stark Clear was made out of potatoes, which grew well in the North and had a massive kick, often times making first time drinkers choke at the burning feeling. It was a favorite among people who wanted to get drunk quickly and was popular among the richer small folk and Magnars of the North. House Stark also standardized the Nordic Ale, which was the cold drink, meant to please Magnars/Lords, Kings, and even the small folk during feasts. The cool taste of the Nordic Ale and the cheap costs, meant it was served in every major inn and castles.

House Martell produces the best Dornish Red, once again funding their growth in power and strength in Dorne.

House Black decided to made Black Gold, which was made out of Kettle Corn, and was extremely popular amongst very rich lords and Magnars. As corn did not grow in the north well and the brew had to be very closely monitored. They also discovered that their drink tasted the better the older it was. This applied to some extent to Arbor Gold, Dornish Red, and Stark Clear. A 75 year old barrel of Black Gold was sold to House Lannister, House Stark and House Gardener for 6000 Gold Wolves. House Gardener drank theirs foolishly, while House Lannister, and House Stark saved theirs realizing that the longer it was kept the more expensive it would become. House Stark also keeps three 80 years old casks of Arbor Red, thirty barrels of 60 years old Dornish Red and forty 78 year old casks of Stark Clear.

* * *

House Stark's Navy could now match all of the other Kingdoms combined and their army was skilled, however, not as numerous as the Gardeners. The harsh seas of Skagos and the Iron Island bred skilled sailors. The harsh lands of the North, bred strong tough men. However, they were only able to reach such a mark for their navy with the induction of the House Redwyne. House Gardener now forced to solely rely upon the Hightower navy.

The First Tongue and the Common Tongue were the two main languages of Westeros. Because the First Tongue already had a form of easy writing, learning the Common Tongue brought no extra value. Only the Vale solely used the Common Tongue. All Lords and Magnar of the other kingdom learned both. The small folk were divided, all members of the small folk of the North only knew the First Tongue, and the Vale only knew the Common Tongue, but the other kingdoms were very mixed and varied with some places even forming bastardized versions of the two languages. This made ruling the South more difficult for many generations as they slowly took on the Common Tongue.

* * *

Valyria was still a new civilization compared to the other civilizations. They were only around 900 years old, compared to the nearly 3000 years of the Kingdom of the North and the Ghiscari Empire, 2000 years of the Kingdom of the Reach, Kingdom of the Stormlands, and the Principality of Rhoyne. They were only able to get this powerful this quickly through their dragons and magic.

At the end of every sixth moon, the great dragonlords get together to discuss future plans. The forty Dragonlords were having the great assembly and the discussion turned to Westeros, most importantly the Kingdom of the North.

"Please, no matter how powerful they are do you truly believe that they can stop us? With all of us on our dragons, nothing can stop us. Nothing will stop us!" yelled one of the Dragonlord.

"Are you sure Dragonlord Vicarion!? Because I hear they have Giants and mammoths. Giants capable of wielding massive bows, shooting its massive spear like arrow tipped with well forged steel, much greater lengths with much greater force. These arrows are supposed to be taller than an average man. An accurate unit of Giants would be able to shoot down a dragon with ease. Each Winter King and his family member walking with direwolves the size of horses, wielding magic and fighting with the force of nature itself! They have Wintersteel which rumored to be as nearly as strong and durable as Valyrian Steel!"

"I hate to agree with Dragonlord Belaerys, but the Kingdom of the North is nothing to scoff at. House Stark has ruled the North for 3000 years now, which is far more than any of us could lay claim to. We can not beat them currently. Not while fighting the Ghiscari Empire." said Dragonlord Targaryen.

"Ha! The two youngest Dragonlord thinks that they can order us around!" yelled Dragonlord Vicarion.

"Please refrain yourself Dragonlord Vicarion. You become a Dragonlord a mere year earlier than them. House Belaerys has made more contributions to the Freehold then you or your family has, with their creation of the Valyrian Steel. Besides, they speak the truth. We are not ready to fight two of the world's most powerful kingdoms, especially since it appears that we will war the third most powerful soon enough, when we expand into Rhoyne. Dragonlord Targaryen, Dragonlord Belaerys, and I shall visit the North and see if we can secure a non aggression pact with them." said Archon Dragonlord Veltigar.

All of the Dragonlords nodded in agreement with Archon Dragonlord Veltigar. Dragonlord Vicarion seethe with rage and fury but could not do anything against Dragonlord Veltigar, as they were the most powerful and influential of the Dragonlord Houses and the current Archon of the Freehold.

* * *

A/N: Arbor Gold/Dornish Red= Wine, Stark Clear = Vodka, Black Gold = Whiskey. The currency was made and controlled by House Stark hence Gold Wolves, Silver, and Copper Giant. Bronze and Tin has become obsolete. Conversion is 20 silver for one Gold Wolf, 20 Copper Giant for one silver.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N:

AO Black, all discoveries are based on another. Steel couldn't have been developed without the discovery of iron working, which in this story is based upon the Rhoynish/Andal iron working, once again the Stark's importance is exaggerated cause this is in the perspective of the North. The Starks had no real influence other than discovering how to forge steel. As for you point against the dragons, you have what are essentially more maneuverable scorpion bolt shots, in the cold Northern climate, with not enough game to feed them all. These are presumably, almost the worst conditions for a dragon. Could the Valyrians raze them in a one on one fight? Of course, but not while fighting the Ghiscari, and the Rhoynish.

Critas, in the background they are trying to, how successful their attempts are i can't say.

ajjr12, seeing as though the Starks appear to hate the Gardeners, I don't know how viable a marriage is.

To all the people that mention the bottle issue, you are right of course, I forgot to change that from back when I didn't know this fact.

* * *

King Beren Stark sat upon the Winter Throne when a Green Ranger burst into the Great Hall. One could tell their station and rank by his cloak and weapon, it was in the color of deep emerald green with a clasp in the shape of an direwolf carrying a longbow made of pure white wood, Weirwood.

He knelt in front of the throne and said, "Your grace, we have spotted around 30 ships. Our intelligence suggest it is the Dragonlords of House Targaryen, House Belaerys, and House Veltigar. They have 10 dragons with them."

Alarmed King Beren quickly asked "Where do they seem to be sailing to?"

"White Harbor, your grace."

"I want you to gather most, if not all, Grey and Green Rangers and ride to White Harbour. Let the White Rangers, Rangers and the Ranger's apprentice take over the patrols." King Beren then turned to his son Prince Eddard, who sat upon the Crowned Prince's Weirwood throne, and said "Ned, I need you to take 5000 men, 50 trained Giants archers, and 30 mammoths to White Harbor and greet these Dragonlords. If they are here for a friendly visit, send me a message within the moon, but if you fail to do so then I shall march the Northern Army."

"I shall leave at first light, father." said the Crowned Prince Eddard as he got up to prepare for the journey.

King Beren turned to the messenger and said "Write a message to all of the Highmagnars and Magnars directly under House Stark. Tell them to prepare the army and be prepared to march to Winterfell if need be. Inform them of the Valyrians."

* * *

Dragonlord Belaerys with Dragonlord Veltigar and Dragonlord Targaryen stood atop their relatively small ship, Sea Dragon, watching White Harbor come into their view. Dragonlord Belaerys saw White Harbor and was surprised at its beauty. It wasn't as awe inspiring as Valyria, which had skyreaching open towers made from fused rock with dragons often doting the skies, but White Harbour had a more tranquil beauty. That wasn't saying that New Castle, the keep of House Manderly wasn't impressive. It had grand whitle walls with impressive towers and he could feel it had rudimentary wards of protection on it. This surprised the Dragonlords, as they had believed wards were to be a Valyrian creation, which was jealously guarded. These wards, however, merely amplified the strength of its walls, preventing decay and was more subtle than their wards.

House Belaerys was nowhere near the most powerful of the forty Dragonlord Houses of Valyria, ranking perhaps in the top half. They did not have as many dragons as House Veltigar, who were rumored to have around 50 or more mature dragons, while his house only had 15. But what they lacked in dragons and numbers, they made it up by being the most gifted house in the area of magic. Their ability and connection to magic was one of the best. House Belaerys has already produced three great fire sage and House Belaerys made the first Valyrian Steel blade. Although ironically, Valyrian Steel did not require any magic at all. It only required the magic of dragon fire. They were beaten by the magical wardic power of House Vicarion, however, this was only due to their willingness to sacrifice thousands and thousands of lives to beat House Belaerys. He looked up to see a huge ship being escorted by ten other large ships.

Atop the ship stood a tall man with broad shoulders who asked in a language, presumably the First Tongue "What are the Valyrian Dragonlords doing this far north?"

The man after seeing blank and confused face of the Dragonlords, the man switched to the Common Tongue and asked the question again. They were able to understand as the Common Tongue remained in Essos, even after the Valyrians captured and chased off many Andals.

Dragonlord Veltigar said "We are not here to invade the North. We merely wanted to see the North and see if the rumors were true. You have my word."

"Very well, I am the Crown Prince Eddard Stark of House Stark. May I ask for yours?"

"I am Archon Dragonlord Veltigar and the two men besides me are Dragonlord Belaerys and Dragonlord Targaryen. We just wish to visit Winterfell and Wintercity."

"I was instructed by my father to lead you and your companions to Winterfell. I hope you don't mind the Green Rangers and the Giants that will be escorting us. They are to make sure that your dragons don't wander off, kill our livestock, and burn our men. They will be put down should they attempt an attack."

"That is perfectly acceptable."

* * *

Excerpt from the personal journal of Dragonlord Aerys Baelarys:

So began our journey to the North. While the journey was long, far longer than what it would have taken to fly, we didn't want to threaten the Northern Magnars. While Archon Dragonlord Veltigar and Dragonlord Targaryen decided to stay distant from our new host, I made friends with the Crown Prince Eddard. He was very stark and blunt, very fitting I suppose. However, he was also very honorable and kind. One could instantly tell he loved the Kingdom of the North and I could see why. Even with the population growth of the North, their Kingdom was currently the biggest in the world and there were still lots of empty and unclaimed land. The cold air was very clear and cut through your lungs, feeling incredibly fresh unlike the stuffy humid lands of Valyria.

The direwolf companion of Prince Eddard was one of the most majestic creatures I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. He was informed that his name was Winter. Winter was a pale white wolf with blue eyes. He was the size of a small horse or pony. Prince Eddard told me of the story of Queen Kyra "the Huntress", who found the direwolves in the lands beyond the Wall in the Land of Always Winter.

* * *

When I saw Winterfell and Wintercity I was in awe. It was as impressive as the castle and buildings of Valyria. What was more impressive was the fact that they had built most of it without the help of magic. He could of course sense the magic within the stone, but it wasn't as overwhelming as his keep in Valyria. Magic was strong around and Winterfell could probably even resist dragonfire for a bit. It was far more powerful than the rudimentary wards on New Castle. Magic was interwoven within the material, instead of coated like it was in Valyria. This interwoven nature of the magic, made it feel far more natural, less off putting, and more welcoming.

What was strange however was the amount of magic woven in the material. The amount of magic that was flowing through the stone should have destroyed the material, yet the walls and keeps of Winterfell and Wintercity held strong. This was part of the reason why the Valyrians chose to "coat" their walls instead of weaving it through, as no material could survive the amount of magic that coats the walls of Valyria.

Wintercity was also a very impressive sight. With a population of 40,000, one could see Giants, men, and short little men, who I assumed was the Children of the Forest, mingling with each other. The city was patrolled by men wearing a grey cloak. Ned told me that they were the Grey Cloak City Guard, who guarded Wintercity and Winterfell. He explained that there were practically no crimes committed within the city borders, because they were able to warg into animals and as soon as a crime was committed, and locate the criminal's location and capture them.

The city was organized four districts. Ned explained to me that this way, should they hold any tourneys or major events, it made containing them and minimising damage easier because they were all in the Inns/visitation quarter. Surprisingly there were no smell of shit and sweat, like there was in Oldtown, but a rather pleasant spell of the forest and wood smoke.

The inner yard had the Grey Cloaks training hard. They all looked to be decent swordsmen and archers. Nothing to scoff at but not amazing. Their leaders seemed to be more impressive and had a very dangerous glint in their eyes as they watched our party.

When they entered the Throne room, I saw King Beren Stark sat upon an impressive throne of Ice, which I was later informed to be known as Stygian Ice. Upon his brow was the famous crown of swords, which was reforged with Wintersteel and with the crown of Winteriron being given to the Crowned Prince to wear at the age of fifteen. He looked as regal and kingly as any Valyrian and our party could all feel the wave of magic rolling off of the throne itself.

The throne was a strange piece of magical artifact. It was an anomaly. Magic was both woven through and around the throne, with a high intense amounts of sacrificial magic lacing through the object, enough for the throne to have cracked and blown apart a hundred times over. However, it still remained and seemed to amplify the King's magic. The Throne was clearly connected to the Stark bloodline and amplified their positive traits. It had other capabilities, however, due to the interwoven layered nature of its magic, it was impossible to tell its other more hidden functions. The only way to learn its other effects, would be to sit upon the throne or break apart the wards, which would require immense magical power, and most likely the sacrifice of more than five thousand slaves. Perhaps it is the throne, which allows the walls to contain more magic than it should be capable of.

* * *

All three Dragonlords bowed their heads in respect and King Beren asked "Why are the Dragonlords of Valyria here?"

"We wished to visit the powerhouse of Westeros." replied Dragonlord Targaryen.

"Please, I wish not to play this game. Tell me the true reason of your visit."

"Ah the famous Stark bluntness. Very well, we wished to start up trade between the North and Valyria, as well as ask you not to think of attacking Valyria. Transporting your Giants, mammoths, and men will be logistic hell for you, not to mention the supplies. It will be the same case for us." replied Dragonlord Veltigar.

"So a non-aggression pact."

"In short, yes. Although the trade is another important factor."

"Very well, but I have a few demands. First, not a single one of my people: Giant, man or Children of the Forest, will be taken by your slavers. I understand that Valyria works though slaves, the North does not. Should I hear one of my people being taken, I will take my revenge. Winter will come for the enemies of House Stark."

"We can agree to those terms."

"Very well, my people will draw up a contract, you are welcome to stay as long as you wish, as long as you don't cause any trouble."

"Thank you, your grace."

* * *

Three moons later, the Valyrians left the North for the journey back home. House Targaryens and House Veltigar left exactly with what they thought they would, a new place to trade their goods and a non-aggression pact. But House Belaerys made a new friend and ally with House Stark. They made better deals with them, as well as making promises to keep in touch. House Stark would grow in wealth with new trade deals with Valyria, especially House Belaerys.

* * *

 **2975 years AW:** Fourth Andal Crusade, minimal success with the only Stark (a cousin to the king) ever killed in the Crusade. The North swore vengeance and would receive it.

 **2977 years AW:** Second Bolton Invasion, had no success

 **3028 years AW:** Prince Cregan "the Guildmaster" formed a great many guilds in Winterfell. The Blacksmith Union, the Farmer's Gathering, the Mercenary Guild, the Company of the Rose (A sellsword company), Magic Association, and etc to further the Northern economy.

 **3125 years AW:** Crowned Prince Antioch "the Faith Slayer" and a few select men and a CotF, would sneak into Oldtown and into the First Sept, where he would gut the High Septon "the Rude" and leave his entrail in a new Weirdwood sapling, planted in the stairway up to the Sept. The sapling feed on the blood and magic of the First Men and a Child of the Forest, to grow faster. House Stark would make use of the first Wildfire ever created by the Alchemist Guild to blow up the entire sept. He would leave a message saying, the North remembers that your religion killed a Stark and winter came for the High Septon in retaliation. This would start saying that the North Remembers.

 **3208 years AW:** Another building project of the North was planned by House Stark to attempt to greatly increase their infrastructure counteracting the negative effects of having such vasts and frigid lands. White Harbour and Whitehall is connected to Winterfell through the White Knife. As such House Stark begins this hundred year plan, with the construction of riverports, river transport systems, and roads.

House Stark had to first connect their greatest source of trade with Essos to their inland capital, to maintain a growth in the capital as well. After 8 years, this task was completed and the river system brings more trade to Winterfell and Wintercity due to the reduction in costs.

House Stark then contacts House Belaerys and offers a million golden wolves for their assistance in the construction of the roads system in the North. After much negotiation, House Stark and House Belaerys agrees to only work together in building the road from Winterfell to Wolf's Watch. After 6 years, a great amount of funding the wolf's road is completed.

House Stark having learnt much from the Valyrian road making begins to merge the Valyrian road designs with the Yi Tish great stone road designs to find a medium between the two. Whilst not as good as the Valyrian roads, it was certainly as good as the great stone roads and did not require dragonfire. Whitehall, Newcastle were all connected to Wolf's Road over the course of 4 years.

House Stark would then embark upon the connecting Winterfell to Castle Black. This would be the longest undertaking committed by House Stark other than the construction of the Wall. 14 years would be spent in the construction of the Black road.

However, an unforeseen problem arose from the construction of the two main roads. Banditry had greatly increased in the North, exploiting the increasing infrastructure. This lead to the foundation of the Northern standing army. A trained force of 10,000 men, were tasked to defend the North. Three Magnar Commanders were elected to command the force together. Each Magnar Commander had 3 Commanders under their command and each commander had 10 Captains under their command. The Commanders and Captains could be both smallfolk, heir of magnars, and even bastards. This standing army would grow to 20,000 men as the population of the North increased. This greatly lowered banditry in the North and also allowed smallfolk to make a little bit of money and the heirs to earn battle experience.

More Northern roads was created over the next 5000 years connecting all of the Highmagnars castles to Winterfell. However, the other roads were not built purely out of the House Stark's treasury. They would be a joint program between the two houses to connect their castles with roads. This infrastructure allowed trade to easily flow to Winterfell and Wintercity, as well as allowing the Northern armies to reach their destination faster. All of the Northern roads lead to Winterfell, creating the saying, all roads lead to Winterfell.

 **3323 years AW:** As an answer to the newly formed and growing Order of the Maesters and their attempts at infiltrating the North and the legendary Great Library of Winterfell. House Stark, specifically Prince Eyron "the Highscholar", created their own order, the Scholarly Order. Any Northerner who was smart enough or show potential would be allowed to join the order, whether they be a commoner or a highborn. All highborns who join the order would need to give up their claims and lands.

A massive keep was built for the order by House Stark, which would later known as the Winterfell University. They would be charged with being the guardians of the Great Library of the Winterfell and tasked with discovering new knowledge and creating inventions. Prince Eyron would become the first Grandscholar in the Order with his twin Princess Lyanna joining him for the same rank.

The lowest rank was an apprentice scholar. These apprentices studied basic and general knowledge in all fields for an average of 4 years in a classroom. Should they show potential, however, they would be recruited as a direct apprentice of a Scholar, a Highscholar, or in one rare case a Greatscholar.

When they are deemed fit, they take a difficult test, testing their theoretical and practical knowledge. Should they pass, they are given the title Scholar. After earning this title, they must begin to specialize within fields. An average Scholar becomes adept around 2 and minor in another 3. They must write a modified thesis, a thesis based upon a full thesis, to become a Highscholar.

Highscholars were men that had proven their knowledge by writing an entire modified thesis, found 20 theoretical errors and mistakes within separate books, or served a town faithfully for 3 years. They serve minor lords and minor keeps.

Then there were Greatscholars, who either wrote a new original thesis, 3 modified thesis, or making a new invention which would help the North. All Greatscholars must be masters of at least four fields. They serve powerful Magnars and Highmagnars or teach classes to the Scholars and Highscholars in Winterfell University.

The highest rank was Grandscholar. A Grandscholar held the position for life or until they have become physically or mentally unable. There was a major discussion which took place, between all of the top Greatscholars and the remaining Grandscholars to decide who was worthy enough to become a Grandscholar. They can only be three Grandscholars at a time. One of the Grandscholars must serve at court in Winterfell, while the other two lead the Order. They had to be masters of at least five fields with at least two original thesis. The Grandscholar of Winterfell would become a great advisor and tutor to House Stark.

Most of the Highscholars were better than the Maester of the south. The Great Library was bigger, grander, and contained a greater quantity and quality of books as the North was leading in innovation as well as amount of discoveries.

* * *

 **3967 years AW:** The trade between North and Valyria is almost exclusively between the North and House Belaerys, granting them great wealth and power to compensate for their lack of dragons compared to the other 40 Valyrian Great Houses, allowing them to stay in power and grow. They lead the neutral faction between the two opposing factions of the 40 Dragonlords, only focusing on growing their wealth and power.

 **4286 years AW:** Fifth Andal Crusade, had no success and once again broke against the walls of Wolf's Watch

 **4394 years AW:** Third Bolton Invasion, minor success in slaying House Locke and taking their castle. The combined forces of Stark, Whitestark, and Manderly forces the Bolton forces back out of the North.

The Blood Company have mastered the guerrilla warfare tactics and uses them with great efficiency against a bigger army. After their three campaigns in the North, they have begun to gain an adept knowledge on combat in a snowy terrain and due to their time in Essos they learn how to fight in both plains and hills. This experience allows them to grow into one of the biggest sellsword companies in the world.

 **4523 years AW:** Prince Bradon "the Clockmaker" creates the first sundial to keep track of time. He ordered the building of the massive sundial in Winterfell. This leads to a greater organization and perception of time.

 **4869 years AW:** To celebrate a friendship of 2000 years House Belaerys grants a Valyrian Greatsword Ice, an exact replica of the ancestral blade of House Stark as a token of friendship. This would make House Stark, one of the few Houses in Westeros to own a Valyrian Greatsword. With House Belaerys permission, the sword is woven with Children of the Forest's magic to make stronger like Wintersteel, Winteriron, and Celestial Bronze, creating the very first Valyrian Wintersteel.

House Stark would in turn allow any member of House Belaerys access to the Great Library of Winterfell, the only none Northern House to ever receive such a privilege. House Stark even denied House Lannister and the Order of the Maesters access even though House Lannister offered a million golden wolves in exchange. House Lannister would go on to offer that small mountain of gold to the Valyrians for the Valyrian Greatsword Brightroar.

Queen Darna "the Sea Rose" would marry Aegar Belaerys and design Galleass and the Great galleasses to continue the Northern domination of the sea. The Ironborn culture as mostly been assimilated with the Northern culture.

 **5023 years AW:** Prince Qhorin "the Stargazer" was the first to study the field of astronomy. Creating the very first few maps of the stars, naming the brightest star, the Northern Rose. To better see the stars, he would commission a few engineers within the North to design the world's first telescope. He would gift this idea to his friend of House Greywolf as glassmaking was already their forte. Many captains would buy their own telescopes from House Greywolf earning them more money. He would then order the greatest observatory be built in the tallest mountain in the North, so House Peverall gained a wonder of man to their name and castle.

 **5173 years AW:** Crowned Prince Jojen "the Astronomer" Stark would discover and name all of the constellations visible in the Northern Hemisphere. Such as the Giant, Direwolf, or Kraken. He would work with many of the greatest minds in the North to discover many interesting things. He would be the first to captain the Northern Caravel and sail the ocean without the guidance of the shore. His friend Magnar Belthasar Thenn would discover that the Northern Rose would always point towards the North and create the first compass in the world.

 **5343 years AW:** Prince Brandon "the Foolish", a fourth born cousin of the King, would lead a part of the Western Navy across the Sunset Sea in hopes of discovering a new continent for the North to settle upon. He disappears with the navy, never to be seen again.

 **5868 years AW:** Prince Garin's eldest daughter was married to the Crown Prince of the North, as House Stark's believe in blood talent, breed power and talent into the Stark bloodline, with Prince Garin being the most powerful water mage in history.

 **5872 years AW:** The Rhoynish lost the Rhoynish Wars, left the great river Rhoyne with Queen Nymeria and her thousand ships. It is said that the war between the Valyrians and the Rhoynish was one of the greatest wars in the history of the known world. The final battle was named the Battle of Fire and Water, as the Dragonriders of Valyria and the water mages of Rhoyne faught.

The elements themselves were attacking each other. The water mages would use the Rhoyne to block and attack the dragons. It was a long hard drawn out fight, but with the might of Valyria and their storm of 100 dragons, destroyed all of Prince Garin "the Great" forces. Most of the Rhoynish fled to Dorne and married into the Martells, allowing the Martell to finally conquer all of Dorne.

Queen Nymeria would sail her 1,000 ships filled to the brim with Rhoynar to flee the Valyrian conquest, after the 500 year war. They would land in Dorne, where Queen Nymeria would seduce and marry Mors Martell. After earning a home for themselves, Queen Nymeria would burn 900 of the 1000 ships so that no Rhoynar would have the opportunity to change their minds. The Rhoynish water magic allowed for the discovery and creation of many oasis to help the Martells grow stronger. Queen Nymeria would then go on to conquer the Yronwoods one of the three Kings of Dorne. With the combined forces of the Yronwoods, Martell, and Rhoynar, House Dayne arguably once strongest Dornish House due to their friendship with House Stark, fell and bent the knee.

Dorne soon as powerful as the other kingdoms. The water mages of Rhoynar allowed oasis to be found and new settlements to be made. The Rhoynar also brought camels with them, allowing them to traverse the Dornish desert with greater ease. With these new findings and additions, Dorne would become more powerful than they were. However, a lot if not most of the water mage's knowledge was lost in the destruction of the great city-states of Rhoyne. The Valyrian Freehold made sure to destroy the city-states as much as possible to ensure such a threat never rises again. Rhoyne had killed 50 dragons in the war, which was more than the Ghiscari did in the 1000 year war. The art of the water mages would be lost by the end of the 100th year of the Rhoyish landing, as many are hunted by the Andal zealots. The great purge leads to the water mages to go into hiding or be killed off. As more and more water mages goes into hiding, less and less of the knowledge is passed on, and soon all of the water mages were lost.

The burning of the thousand fleet had assured the newly assimilated Andal culture to assimilate to the Rhoynish culture, leading to a very interesting middle ground, also limited the Dornish navy size to 150 ships. Due to the lack of wood in Dorne, most of their fleet to combat the pirates of the Stepstones were from the North.

 **5973 years AW:** Sixth Andal Crusade happen simultaneously with the Fourth Bolton Invasion, both had some success, as the boy King Jojen was not a skilled military commander, especially at the age of 8. However, after appointing Highmagnar Umber as his general and commander of his forces, they are repelled.

 **6013 years AW:** Worried about the growing strength of the Valyrians and lack of enemies they have to fight, Prince Brandon "the Explorer" and Princess Lyrra "the Sea Wolf" set off on a quest to Chroyane. They would sneak 3 dozen Northern ships up through Sarhoy to the greatest Rhoynish city, with the help of House Belaerys. Chroyane is said to be the least destroyed, as the last Rhoynish Prince Garin "the Great" whilst in his golden cage being mocked by 20 dragonlord conquerors, at night called upon Mother Rhoyne to drag all 20 dragons and dragonlords down into the river drowning them. It is said that Prince Garin angered by his failure and causing the death of a quarter million soldiers, then raised the fogs which hid Chroyane from the Valyrian dragons to protect his home. The Valyrians scared to meet the same faith as the 20 dragonlords decided to just abandon Chroyane. It is said that Mother Rhoyne created Greyscales to punish the Valyrians, as the disease became wide spread as the armies of the Valyrians went back home. The Valyrians solved the problem by burning and sacrificing all of the infected men.

The 3 dozen ships docked at the surprisingly well preserved city. Chroyane, nicknamed the festival city, was once the richest and most splendid of the cities along the Rhoyne. It contained the colossal Palace of Love, a magnificent fastness. The crew see graceful buttresses, delicate arches, fluted columns, terraces and bowers. The palace's towers and fallen stones are covered in thick, grey moss and black vines. It was roughly the same size as Winterfell but a hundred times more beautiful.

They would fight more than a hundred maddened Stonemen. The Northerners wearing long clothing and could avoid having skin to skin contact with them and through the use of spears and shields walls, were able to get through to the Palace of Love.

It was there they would find the throne room, where the skeletal figure, presumed to be Prince Garin sat. Prince Garin recorded his life in a journal which would be found next to his body. The book and crown would be taken with the two Stark siblings. They would go on to raid the great library of the Palace of Love. Chroyane being next to river Rhoyne was always very wet. To compensate for this the Rhoynish watermages would ward the library to keep it dry. This meant the books were relatively well kept, with most of the books being in good conditions. Due to the age of the wards however, as soon as they stepped through the doors, the ward collapsed. Meaning the Palace of Love would soon face greater decay and collapse. All of the gold, books, and other valuable items were looted. One of the most important finds was the book on Greyscale. The book detailed many methods to avoid Greyscale, such as burning all clothing contaminated by Greyscale, as it could carry the disease, using fire to burn prevent more spreading, and the use of water magic to cut the Greyscale off of the skin. Water magic works the best as the water is constantly changing, however, a similar process could be completed with knives, as long as the knives are constantly cleaned.

A dozen of sketches and paintings were drawn of Chroyane, to capture the beautiful city before it fell into ruin.

Prince Brandon, after reading about the traditional burial methods of the Rhoynish, put Prince Garin's body wrapped in a blanket was put on a boat and pushed out into the Rhoyne. The boat with man made holes, causing it to slowly sink into the river, allowing Prince Garin to finally find rest with Mother Rhoyne.

The two siblings would return to the North as heroes, having brought great wealth and knowledge to Winterfell. The North would immediately study the notes of the Rhoynish Warmasters and would be disappointed to find their fighting tactics mostly revolved around the legendary water mages of Rhoyne. However, the history and culture of Rhoyne was preserved in the North and Dorne.

House Stark after not finding any helpful tactics from the Rhoynish, would double their efforts to find the legendary chronicles of Hizdahr zo Sarqu using the Kingsman. He was a commander of the Old Empire of Ghis, who in the Fifth Ghiscari War was the only commander able to kill four dragons.

House Lannister, House Gardener, and House Arryn would all launch their own expeditions. House Gardener chose to visit Sarhoy, as it was the safest. However, Sarhoy was found to be in complete ruins after the Valyrians destroyed it. Disappointed, they would launch a second expedition to Ny Sar. Whilst they found slightly more success there, most of the valuable goods from Ny Sar was taken to Dorne. House Arryn visit Ar Noy. Whilst parts of its famous green marble walls were still standing, there was not much goods to be found as the dragon flames destroyed the city and palace. Ghoyan and Drohe would be visited by House Lannister, the city also in ruins but many of its canal bridges were still standing. This allowed House Lannister to find some information of Rhoyne and its beautiful architecture. These expeditions would bring back a small sample of Greyscales, which is why people in Westeros could get the disease, even though it is extremely rare.

 **6139 years AW:** King Karlon "the Patron" would fund many of the great architectural buildings and artworks. Many parts of Queens Cassana's mathematics would be figured out during this period, leading to the extensive usage of the Stark Theorem.

The architecture of the Rhoynar, North, and Valyria would find a very beautiful mixture within Winterfell creating a new architectural style. Winterfell would receive many of the classic Rhoynish architecture of graceful buttresses, delicate arches, fluted columns, terraces and bowers. They received the tall circular architure of the Valyrians in combination of the sharp slanted roofs to allow no snow build up, the gargoyles watchers, grey granite, and hundred of fluttering banners of House Stark, from the Northern architecture.

Many Direwolves and Stark Kings statues popped up around Winterfell. The first amphitheatre based upon Rhoynish architecture was built to hold plays, magicians acts, animal shows, musical artists and many others. The Street of the Great Kings were created to depict the best Kings of the North through very realistic sculptures. It lead straight to the Great Gate, which connected to the Black road and Wolfsroad. The sculpture were famous for looking unbelievably real.

The very inner walls of Winterfell received a very artistic upgrade that by no means affected the strength and integrity of the walls. No castle in Westeros could compare to Winterfell's beauty and strength. Music and art would flourish in the North, leading to Wintercity and Winterfell to be the most beautiful place in the world, comparable only to the city Valyria. Musical devices were created like the drum, bagpipe, and harp. The Citadel not willing to be outdone by the North again, creates the lute.

Winterfell would become one of the only examples of Northern extravagance. However, due to its importance, history, and House Stark's great economic strategies no Northerners had any complaints.

 **6214 years AW:** Since King Antioch "the Faith Slayer", Oldtown would not house the High Septon for 3000 years. They were finally brought back after House Hightower spent thousands of gold wolves in building the Starry Sept. House Hightower and other Reach Houses spent 2000 years to cut down all of the Weirwood trees, which kept mysteriously popping up.

 **6423 years AW:** King Cregan Stark II formed the Order of the Vexator. They were spear and knife wielding fighters. Each member was extremely skilled, but their main strength was their horses. King Cregon a group of his men to kill a small Khalasar and bring their horses. The best of the best were bred to be the fastest and have the strongest endurance. House Ryswell who had a history of horse breeding exclusively bred horses for this order. Order of the Vexator's horses were bred to focused on speed and endurance instead of strength and size. They were the special cavalry unit that would be sent in to harass army and disappear by the time the main fighting force was to attack. They were meant to slow down an attacking army. They were trained to fight all types of land fighters from knights to cavalry, to normal foot soldiers.

 **6692 years AW:** King Jon "the Mechanic" would crack a part of Cassana's notes and design the world's first crossbows and scorpions. The walls of Winterfell and Wolf's Watch were lined with these warmachines in the case of an aerial or siege weapon attack. A couple attacks from scorpions blasts would have siege weapons breaking down, unlike the wave of arrows that were required. All other major castles would soon be lined with scorpions earning House Stark a great deal of money.

 **6808 years AW:** The seventh and final Andal Crusade happened, with no success. They were once again repelled by the great walls of Wolf's Watch. With the addition of the scorpions and other war machines and the 4 Andal Crusade broken by Wolf's Watch, Wolf's Watch has become officially as impossible to take as the Bloody Gate of the Vale. The Andal Crusades allowed the North to observe all of the weaknesses within its defences and completely correct all of them.

 **7051 years AW:** House Stark celebrates their 7000 year rule over the dominion of the North. House Stark is considered to be nearly godly figures in the North due to their extremely long rule and brilliant legendary members. Many of the roads are completed by this time, connecting all High Magnar castles and towns to Winterfell. There are three major cities in the North. Wintercity, with a population of 450,000 people is the biggest city in the North. White Harbour follows with a population of 250,000 people, then Guardcity with a population of 180,000 people. Whitetown, Greytown, Pyke fall just below the city population of 50,000 and has 45,000, 40,000, and 35,000 respectively. The North has a population of 7 million men, 35 thousand giants, and 25 thousand Children of the Forest. Without the influx of giants and the First Men tribes beyond the Wall, the North would have most likely never grown beyond 4 million men.

 **(A/N: This numbers will of course change. By the time of the TV shows, the North will have a population of 8 million. This number is based upon a website I read that estimated the cannon populations to be** **1.5 million for the Crownlands, 4 million for the North, 4 million for the Riverlands, 4 million for the Vale of Arryn, 5.5 million for the Westerlands, 1.5 million for the Iron Islands, 2.5 million for the Stormlands, 3 million for Dorne, and 12 million for the Reach. Since in this story, the Iron Island and Beyond the Wall population should be added to the North's pop, you have at least 6 million people. Considering growth should also be bigger with a bigger pop, I think my estimation is okay. Also in my personal opinion 2.5 seems a little small for the Stormlands so I am going to raise that to be 3.5.)**

 **7123 years AW:** House Stark, Queen Cayra "the Liberator" would aid the escape of three ships filled with escaped slaves. They would guide them North along Essos towards a hidden cluster of islands, a distant lagoon surrounded by pine-clad slopes, where the thick fog would help conceal the refugees from passing dragonriders. It was just such a place that the refugees ultimately arrived, and their city began to expand across the many islands and mudflats that dotted the lagoon. House Belaerys finding about this endeavor decided to aid House Stark and trust their judgement, helping the Braavosi escape the Valyrian grasp and knowledge by providing them with the Valyrian patrol information. The Starks would send giants and men to help build a grand city, with many bridges connecting the hundred islands to another. Braavos would be made up of Ghiscari, Summer Islander, Northerner, Rhoynish, Andal, and Valyrian architecture.

 **7324 years AW:** The North is the only country that knew of the existence and location of Braavos and so they were their sole trading partner. The North worked hard to make sure Braavos survived and thrived. A group of 10 men and women would come to House Stark to form the Iron Bank. House Stark gave them blessing to use their currency of the Gold Wolf, Silver, and Copper giant. This would spread the influence of their currency all over the world when the Iron Bank grew in prominence. As a show of good fate, House Stark would deposit 1 million Gold Wolves for the Iron Bank to invest.


	9. Chapter 9

Valyria had conquered almost the entirety of Western Essos. Developing their small outposts into full flesh colonies, such as Tyrosh, Lys, Myr and many many others. Dragonlord Targaryen had settled on Dragonstone, the furthest Freehold Outpost. The Valyrian Freehold was the biggest empire in the world, surpassing the Kingdom of the North with the assimilation of the Rhoynish city-states and their lands. Their technological prowess was matched only by the Golden Empire of Yi Ti and the North, their armies vast and undefeated and magical prowess only matched by the Kingdom of the North and the mysterious lands of Asshai.

Valyria had beaten the supposedly unbeatable Lockstep Legions of the Ghiscari Empire, although it was only through the excessive use of dragons as well the legendary water mages of Rhoyne. The Andals were easily scared off and they were now destroying the Dothraki hordes, Tall men, etc. This allowed them access to the entirety of the Western Essos and large amounts of resources.

All of the forty Dragonlords had the main family in the city of Valyria. The city of Valyria is located southeast of the Three Daughters on the Valyrian Peninsula, a large peninsula extending southwards into the Summer Sea. Valyria was connected by dragon roads to surrounding cities, such as Tyria. Topless tower built to rise high through magic and merged stone, soared reaching for the clouds with many stone sphinxes guarded the city. The smooth stones were accomplished by melting the stones together, making it a seamless attachment. The Valyrian Peninsula was the center of the Valyrian Freehold and Valyria was its beating heart.

The Valyrians seemed unstoppable and were set to conquer the rest of Essos, before the unimaginable Doom of Valyria.

* * *

King Eddard Stark the 18th of his name, was sitting upon his throne worried, as he had not heard from his old friend Dragonlord Jaehaerys Belaerys, or as he called him Jae. It has been three moons since he last heard from him. It would take around a single moon for the messenger raven to reach Valyria at most, so he was dreading what this delay might mean.

He met Jae, when he left the North to explore the planteos as a young child. At first, he thought he would be satisfied by visiting the Eight Kingdoms of Westeros but he was wrong, as everywhere but Dorne was boring and hostile. So he set sail to Valyria to meet House Belaerys, the old ally of House Stark. It was there that he met heir Jaehaerys. They had instantly become close friends, bonding over their immense burden of their House's great history and responsibilities. They practiced their swordplay, studied politics, finance, and practically everything else together, each finding a brother they had always wanted in the other.

King Eddard had stayed with House Belaerys in Valyria for four years, before journeying back to the North and they have kept in contact ever since, messaging each other practically every month.

His thoughts were interrupted when a Green Ranger ran inside the Great Hall.

He knelt and said, "Your grace, I bring terrible news, Valyria…. It has fallen. Nobody knows how it happened. Some say the fourteen massive volcanoes erupted at the same time causing the land split apart. Some say that the Dragonlords attacked each other, while others say that a ritual went wrong. The Kingsmen heard rumors of this, so we went to investigate, only to discover it to be true. I am sorry your grace, I know you had close Valyrian friends."

King Eddard's face turned stony. There were two types of Starks. The wolf blooded Starks, who are quick to anger, gaining strength, speed, and great reflexes in exchange for a clouded mind. The other were the the winter Starks. Their anger is like a frozen blizzard. It grants them a heightened intelligence due to the powerful motivation. It allowed them to deliver justice and revenge, allowing them to wait for the perfect moment to destroy everything in their path systematically. Eddard Stark was the latter and have never had an explosive anger or sadness. All grief or anger instantly froze inside him, leaving him solem. Cold anger had its uses, just as hot rage had its own uses.

He quietly but commandingly said "Bring me the Highseer."

* * *

Soon a Child of the Forest came through to the Great Hall, walked forth and said "Your grace, you asked for me?"

"Can you explain the Doom of Valyria to me? It sounds eerily similar to how you Children destroyed the Arm of Dorne. Is there any chance for them to have survived?"

"It does your grace, but the magical signature was vastly different. I personally felt the souls of the sacrificed, finally being able to escape, so based on that I have come to a conclusion. What I believe happened your grace, was that the fourteen volcanoes exploded at once. Once, the destructive heat and lava reached the castles and forts of Valyria, the wards and the volcanos ended up having a major battle, which ended with a massive magical backlash supported by the tortured madness of the sacrificed, that broke and sunk the Valyrian Peninsula. Most wards would break before that could ever happen, but all houses except House Belaerys practiced incredible amounts of human sacrifice. We had similarly practiced the art before the Long Night, till it was deemed to be too barbaric. It made the magic stronger, especially if one sacrificed a magically strong person. But for their to be any noticeable effect with a non magically gifted person, you have to sacrifice thousands of lives. The Valyrians didn't care about such a vile act and sacrificed thousands and thousands of non magically gifted for each fort, tower, and castle. This caused the runes to not collapse the instant the lava touched it, allowing the ensuing battle between magic and nature. No matter how powerful magic is, it cannot stop nature. So when the magic broke, it most likely released a powerful magical backlash, which was compounded every time it reached and broke a new ward, creating a magical backlash powerful enough to split and sink lands. Not only that, but this magic is tainted with the souls of the sacrificed. That means that the magical backlash released all of the tortured souls into the surrounding area, cursing it. A normal man will not be able to survive, however, a magically gifted might have a chance to make it out. "

"So they were killed by their own stupidity and ruthlessness?"

"Well not all your grace, I heard the Targaryens took their 15 dragons to Dragonstone and moved their entire family there, after one of their members dreamed about the Doom." said a random trader to was at the Great Hall.

"I heard the Veltigars moved a part of their family and dragons to Volantis after the Targaryen warning." yelled another trader.

"Thank you all for your information." said King Eddard as he stood up from his throne. As he made his way to leave the hall, he said "Please clear the room, I shall hold no more meeting for today."

* * *

King Eddard sat in front of the ancient Weirwood tree in the Godswood of Winterfell. His direwolf, Night, was pure black in color with clear blue eyes. It is said that this Weirwood tree is one of the oldest in the known world. The First Men and Children had only found one other older Weirwood tree and it was far in the Land of Always Winter. There was talk between the Children, trying to find of ways to bring it further south to Wolfswood near Winterfell, where the Children of the Forest built their own city. It was very well warded and unless in dire need, no man or Giant would be able to find it. Only when escorted by a Child of the Forest, would a person not in danger, be able to find the city. The few men who visited the city say that it is amazing with houses that is merged with trees. Animals that would stay with them, without warging or domestication. It is said that there are massive trees, taller than towers of some castles. He now wish that he was back there, as there is no place in the world as peaceful. Only in the ancient Godswood of Winterfell, where he could feel all the Olds God's presence, was it remotely close.

It has been a moon since he heard about the Doom of Valyria and he was still mourning for his fallen friend and the loss of a close ally. He sat there sharpening and cleaning Ice, over and over again even though the blade needed no sharpening.

As he sat there collecting his thoughts, a guard came into the forest and said "Your grace. You will want to see this."

"What is it?"

"There is a host coming... with Valyrian features."

King Eddard shot up, quickly sheathed Ice and ran to the inner walls of Winterfell. He jumped on the nearest horse and rode out. Hastily, 10 guards quickly followed with the Green Ranger jumping on his specially bred horse to follow.

When King Eddard neared the host of 5000 men and women, he stopped and asked "Who are you? State your business!"

"It's me, old friend." said a heavily bandaged man, with flowing silver hair riding forward.

King Eddard shocked said, "Jae? You are alive?"

"Yes-" his barely audible voice was cut off with a hacking cough. "These people here and I were able to escape the Doo-" said Jae as he nearly fell out of his horse not being able to properly stay on it because of all his injuries.

"Just hang on friend, I shall get you help." said King Eddard.

He then turned to escort guards, and said "Get more men, help me escort them to the infirmary!"

When King Eddard turned back around he saw Jae dropping off of his horse with one of his men barely catching him.

* * *

Dragonlord Jaehaerys Belaerys, sixth of his name, awoke in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar location.

He looked around and said "Wa…."

He was unable to finish as his voice cracked due to his raw parched throat. Luckily, the Grandscholar heard the noise and saw that his patient had awoken. He quickly got up and brought him a glass of water.

After watching Dragonlord Jaehaerys drink all the water slowly, the Grandscholar asked, "How are you feeling?"

"I have felt better."

"I shall go inform King Eddard, he asked me to inform him once you awoke." and the Grandscholar left.

Left alone, Jaehaerys looked around to see that he was in the infirmary. Still feeling parched, he reached for more water.

After 3 minute of waiting, the Grandscholar returned but this time with Ned.

"Ned!" said Jaehaerys.

"Jae. Thank the Old Gods, you are alive. I was worried. When I heard of the Doom of Valyria and no rumor of your family's survival. I assumed you were dead. Thank the gods you came to Winterfell. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Before I do, are all the smallfolk being treated?"

"Of course. I have personally made sure of it. I have been told that they will all make a full recovery."

"Then sit down, because it is a long story."

After taking another gulp of water, Jaehaerys began his story.

"When the fourteen volcanoes erupted at the same time, I knew what the Targaryens foretold and my dreams warned me of were true. You see the Targaryens, specifically Daenys "the Dreamer", predicted the Doom a century ago and they moved their entire family to Dragonstone. Every dragon owned by House Targaryen, around 15, and wealth was moved to Dragonstone. The Veltigars moved a tenth of their family to Volantis so roughly 10 dragons, although they were the old or the newborn and 5 family members. The second born son, 2 Sisterwives, and two children. No other families moved away from Valyria. In fact we mocked the Targaryens for their foolishness. In leaving Valyria, they had left behind their political power and status. My family, believed ourselves to be the most magically powerful, and because we didn't have the dream, that meant that it wasn't going to happen. So our family also decided not to move."

"Wait, I thought your family was the most powerful in magic?"

"We are generally. Our average magic power is higher than any other family, however, that doesn't mean that there cannot be another person more powerful the us. My family grew arrogant, because we were constantly called the most magically powerful of the Dragonlords. Then hours before the Doom, I had a dragondream as well. It was as exactly as the same as the Targaryens described to us. I immediately knew the Doom was coming, so I took my family and the nearby smallfolk, into our high up our castle, where we would be protected from the heat and lava. My dragon was dragged indoors but the others were near the 14 Flames, and they could erupt at any moment so had to be abandoned. I was hoping that it would provide enough protections for them. My daughter refused to leave my side whilst I was helping the smallfolk into my castle. She is very magically powerful and only I can hold her uncontrolled lashes of magic. So when the fourteen flames exploded, the smoke, lava, heat, and ash washed over my castle before we could properly close the gates. I had to protect my daughter, so I cast a rudimentary ward of protection on her." said Jaehaerys with blank eyes.

Knowing it wasn't safe for him to go in shock, King Eddard broke him from his stupor by asking, "And?"

"You don't know how Valyrian wards work. For a rune of protection to work, the damage that the object that is being protect might receive has to go somewhere. Normally, you do it to something like a mountain or the ocean, but I didn't have time to put the pair on either one. So the solution was to put it on myself. I took all the injuries that she was supposed to get, the burns, the cuts. Solar, took the brunt of the attack though and with his last strength he closed the gates for us and blocked the ash. He died a second later looking into my eyes…. Even though we were relatively safe in my castle as long as no molten rock hits us, I knew it wasn't sustainable. I saved around 7,000 men, at the cost of 65,000. My fort was somewhat safe against the lava, it's made with dragon fire. Nowhere near as hot as lava, but it lasted long enough before melting, giving the lava time to cool. It was only through pure luck that a piece of debris didn't hit my castle. I was able to save 48 Valyrian Steel swords and weapons, 23 sets of Valyrians Steel armor, 200 chest filled with books from our library and the other libraries that we looted, and 300 chest filled with gold and other valuable gems. I would give it all to bring back the dead." said Jaehaerys shuddering.

"You say you saved 7,000, but only 5,000 of them were with you. What happened?"

"I waited for a month, making sure the all the magical backlash from the destruction of the wards of the other house's forts and castles was finished. Normally, I would be able to sense it but because of the unprecedented magical backlash, my senses were overcharged. There was so much poisonous magic in the air. When we left the fort, we made our way to the closest harbor only to find it broken in many places, with more than half of it sunken underwater. We could see a few boats, but they were quite far away. So we had to go to the other harbour hoping that it hadn't broken off or sunken into the ocean with the boats." Jaehaerys stopped to gather his thoughts, before continuing, "We found the harbor still attached, but the all the boats had drifted away or sunken. So I broke off the men into groups. Few were sent to get the boats, a group to look for more survivors, and another group to look at the other forts for more resources." said Jaehaerys.

He drank another glass of water before continuing. "We looked at all of the unbroken parts of the forts and even dug around the rubble. Most of the books are from my family's library, books are not the most durable object, so we were not able to find many. Half the weapons and armor are my families as well, seeing as how most of the weapons and armor was light enough to be thrown into the ocean when the land sank or buried under the lava. That is what I am presuming happened to most of the other Valyrian Steel. My house had a lot of gems and while tons was lost, there were still enough to fill those chests. Most of Valyria is in rubble as the magical backlash blew apart the walls and stones. Although we found a few suspiciously standing and closed off to the world, I worry about the reasoning for the forts survival. We had to stay there for a month, getting the ship ready for the ocean and preparing resources. We made the mistake of drinking from the streams and lakes nearby. Whether it be all the deaths, volcanic eruptions, or the magical backlash, the waters of Valyria is now poisoned. Anyone who drank it, slowly went mad, got greyscales, or simply just died. By the time we figured out it was the water roughly 2000 people died. The one blessing in that horrible event, was the fact that the water we saved and the food we collected, was then enough for us to set sail and leave, practically immediately. The last blessing given to us, by the gods were the fact that we didn't have to fight any krakens on our way out."

"I am sorry, Jae. For making you have to go through that again."

"No! I deserve every bit of the pain. We put these people through this, us Dragonlords. And now Valyria has fallen and my family will surely die out."

"My friend, you can't think this way. You have to continue fighting!"

"For what! I have no home, I have lost my wealth, my power, my dragons, my family, and my people. After this ordeal, I doubt I would be able to have a child. Without the dragons, I can't even carve out a new home!"

"Silence! You do have your family! You have a young daughter, who needs her father right now! Even if you can't have a new child, your family line, legacy, and blood will live through her! For your home, you can stay here. I will give you the protection of the North! You will not need wealth while staying with us. Do you not think, that your family will want you to continue living!? What about the 5000 lives you saved!? What about them!? Do you not think they are extremely grateful to you for saving their lives!? You did what neither the Targaryens nor the Veltigars did, even though they had more dragons and more power. You save the smallfolk of Valyria, men that you did not need to save and for that they will be extremely grateful! You are the sole reason why the culture of Valyria might not die out!" said King Eddard, before continuing with a softer voice he said, "Look my friend. You can give up now and kill yourself. I swear to you that your daughter will have a home here. But the way I see it, just for that little girl, the little girl that you took all the burns and cuts for, you have a life worth living. Please get some more rest and please think on what I said my friend."

* * *

Jaehaerys stood with his shoulders firmly back, hair combed and tied back in perfection, and wearing formal clothing. He was walking Shraey towards the ancient weirwood tree in Winterfell's Godswood, before stepping away. Shraey was looking simply perfect, the Valyrian silver hair shining in the sunlight contrasting with a light red and gold flowing dress. To combat the cold and for tradition she was also wearing a heavy cloak of gold and red with a dragon symbol, the sigil of the Valyrian Freehold, woven into it. Her beautiful red and gold dress was paired jewelry made from the gems he brought from Valyria and juxtaposed beautifully with a light dusting of snow which covered Winterfell. The hot spring pools near the Weirwood tree was sending steam into the air making the area look even more beautiful.

Crown Prince Jameson Stark, second of his name, was already there waiting for her. The crown of the Crowned Prince atop his head, with a man in the background holding the greatsword Titan's Bite. His dark, nearly black, brown hair was pulled back into a small bun, his jawline accented by a light beard. The Prince was a handsome man, with the typical Stark looks, his piercing storm grey eyes only looking at Shraey. He was dressed in a fine black leather doublet with white stitching of direwolves. He was clearly dressed in expensive clothes, however, it was not overly extravagant.

Jaehaerys couldn't help but think about the past decade and how much had happened.

* * *

Jaehaerys after hearing his friends words, decided to not give upon his life. He began by buying out an entire street of Wintercity with his 100 chestful of gold and gems. It ran from the rich inner circle near Winterfell, all the way to the very outer circle where the poorest dwelled. This street was then gifted to the Valyrians that had escaped the Doom with them. The gifted and skilled were brought closer to Winterfell, ranging from Valyrian smiths who could rework Valyrian steel and knew how to craft gorgeous pieces of jewelry, armor, and weapons and normal farmers. He named this zone, Little Valyria, and the main street which ran down the zone, Shraey's Street.

Titan's Bite, the ancestral blade of House Belaerys, was reforged with the Children of the Forest overlaying their magical enchantments to make the durable and light material even superior.

King Eddard would keep his oath and provided Shraey with the best education money could buy. Shraey and Jameson grew up together. They would run and explore the secrets of Winterfell, swim in the hot springs of Winterfell, and read about great adventures from the Great Library and much more, together. Shraey would receive a Northern education, which would allow her to practice martial skills as well as the scholarly.

The two would do everything with each other. Their first words were of the other. Jameson had said Ray and Shraey had said Jam. However, their close relationship did not mean that there were no conflicts. They were fiercely competitive and would constantly try to outdo the others. When Jameson began to accel in swordplay, Shraey became furious and devoted all of her time in archery and began to easily overtaking Jameson. There were a thousand competitions to see who was the better rider, runner, smarter, more athletic. These competitions allowed the pair to reach their great potential.

At the age of 14, Jaehaerys and Eddard after a short meeting, announced the betrothal between the pair. The two had begun to develop feelings for each other and were very happy with this announcement. The North was shocked, as this was the first time in 2000 years a Stark married out of the North, the last being the Princess Alya Dayne.

In return for Shraey's marriage, the dowry would be all of the items rescued from Valyria. This way, the Belaerys would live on through the Starks. The vast wealth brought with House Belaerys was mixed with the legendary Stark's wealth. Knowing that it wouldn't be safe, keeping all of their gold with the Iron Bank, King Eddard decided to put only half their wealth with the Iron Bank, with the other half being put into their newly made vault. Vast amount of Valyrian Steel and Wintersteel was used to make the giant vault doors, with the walls being four layers of very thick granite, reinforced with Valyrian and Children of the Forest magic. The vault was to be impossible to break into, as they had many guards and had personally designed the lock. The vault was deep underground with a single access point by the Throne room. There were 6 shifts of 50 guards, constantly guarding the entrance and stairs. After a 10 minute decent, they would reach the vault. The vault was locked with a physical key, held by the King and another copy hidden in the King's solar, and a blood enchantment to requiring the fresh blood of the main Starks line. The vast amount of gold, precious metal, gems, and amazing weapons were held there.

Shraey learned Valyrian magic from her father. Like all Belaerys before her, she was very gifted in the art of magic, understanding and grasping it quickly. It was basic fire magic, warding, and powerful dragon dreams. Jameson also showed great potential in the warging, ice magic, and even some green dreams. This of course this led to another argument between them.

* * *

Jaehaerys snapped out of his musing and watched as a Child of the Forest said to them "Who comes before the Old Gods?"

"I, Shraey of House Belaerys."

"And I, Jameson of House Stark."

"And who gives Shraey of House Belaerys?"

"I, Jaehaerys of House Belaerys, gives her to Jameson Stark in front of the Old Gods."

"Who seeks Shraey of House Belaerys?"

"I do. I come to seek Shraey of House Belaerys in front of the Old Gods." said Jameson.

"Do you, Shraey of House Belaerys, take this man as your lawful husband?"

"I do."

"Do you, Jameson of House Stark, take this woman as your lawful wife?"

"I do."

"Then take off her cloak and replace it with yours. Understand, this symbolizes your commitment and are putting her under your protection. There is no annulment of marriage in the eyes of the Old Gods. This is your last chance to stop."

Jameson stepped forward as Shraey turned around. He reached around and gently took off her red cloak. He passed the cloak to Jaehaerys and then turned to his father, who handed him a new white cloak. This one was white and grey, with the direwolf of House Stark embroidered on it. He took it from his father, then tied it firmly but carefully around her shoulders. As soon as he stepped back, a gust of wind blew through the entire party and all the guest could feel a presence watching them or more specifically the newly married pair. Soon as if satisfied, the presence left.

Sensing the presence leaving, the Highseer said "I now pronounce you, husband and wife."

The real wedding party began with the roar from Magnar Umber as he yelled his approvals, backed up by the Giantsbane, and Dustins.

* * *

It has been 11 years since that day and King Jameson Stark stood proudly looking down at his children. The classic look of the Starks and the Valyrians merged with them. They had dark brown hair, but each with a streak of silver running down the left side of the face. The classic long Stark face, was slightly shortened. It was still considered to be long, but it wasn't too long as it used to be with most Starks. Their cheekbones become more defined. Both House Stark and House Belaerys had strong jaws, so that remained. The Stark nose, became slightly sharper and more aristocratic, and their shoulders remained broad, but their build slimed down a little making them more lean. Their eyes, however, was the strangest part. For all five of the children, they had the one eye being grey and the other royal purple. When his first child was born he assumed that it was just a rare case, but then his second son had the same eyes, followed by his daughter as well. By his second daughter he was barely surprised and with his last born son, it was expected. The Valyrian perfect immaculate beauty and the Stark's commoner beauty merged, finding a halfway point. Where nobody could call a Stark as ugly anymore, but they were not the perfect otherworldly beauty of the Valyrians. They were approachable when the smiled, regal when they were serious, and godly when angry.

His thoughts were interrupted when his beautiful wife came straight at him and half asked and half demanded, "Why didn't you tell me about these ice dragons!?"

"Because Raey, they are a myth."

"Yet, people have repeated said that they have seen one! People from the North, Braavos, and even and Lorath!"

"But no one has distinct proof. No one has ever brought one back or have any proof of their existence. No bones, no teeth, or anything at all."

"It doesn't matter! If the Valyrians were able to get amazingly powerful through the dragons, imagine what a bigger stronger one could do for us!"

"Raey, they are a myth. A commoner tale made up to entertain themselves. Besides, even if they are real, who says we could control them?"

"Please, my ancestors were famous for taming dragons and your family has a gifted ability to control animals. I have read most of the books on dragon taming in the Great Library and the Stark personal library. I think we will be fine."

"True, but they might be immune to us trying to warg into them."

"Would it hurt to try?"

"If it turns out to be true and kills us, yes."

"Don't you need to visit Braavos anyway. Why not pass through the Shivering Sea, just in case? When we sail back, we can sail between Lightwatch to Braavos. It won't even get in your way. You have to talk to the High Magnar of the Wall and the Night's Watch to make sure they have enough men anyway. So why not kill three birds with one stone. You get to do what you need to in both the Wall and Braavos and you get to sate my curiosity. I promise you, I will make it up to you." said Queen Shraey with a smirk at the end.

"Fine, but our kids are coming with us," said King Jameson and in a small whisper continued "And you will be making it up to me, a lot."

* * *

King Jameson looked at the horizon, where Braavos was coming into view. The Titan of Braavos, was jointly built by House Stark and the Sealord of Braavos. It designs were based on the Great Statues of the Northern Cannal.

He then turned to his wife and said "Told you so. We met no ice dragons."

Queen Shraey turned to him and glared "You never know. We have the trip back as well."

"True, but-"

Queen Shraey cut him off and said "Don't finish that sentence, unless you want to sleep on the floor tonight."

King Jameson held his hands up in surrender with a smile and said "Fine. I won't."

They looked at Braavos in a comfortable silence, till they reached the harbor. King Jameson then moved to step off the boat.

After helping his wife and children off the boat said "Let us go to the Iron Bank. I want the managers to get to know our children as well."

King Jameson, Queen Shraey and their kids, made their way to the impressive headquarters of the Iron Bank with their guards following closely behind them. They entered the building and headed to a teller.

The teller was reading his book not looking at him, asked "What is the purpose of your visit?"

"To meet with the bank managers."

"They are very busy."

"I have an appointment."

"I am sure you do."

"Yes and if you look up, you will see that what I say is indeed true."

The teller finally looked up at King Jameson.

At first the man didn't recognize him, then his eyes widened. "King… King Jameson Stark?"

"The very same. This is my wife, Queen Shraey Stark nee Belaerys and these are my children. Brandon, Raero, Sansa, Jaehaerys, and Mira. Now can you lead us to the Bank Manager's office?"

"Of course my… I mean, your grace. Right away." said the teller, hurrying to lead them towards the Bank Manager's Office. "Your grace, I am terribly sorry. I meant no disrespect. I was being childish and stupid, please forgive me."

"Don't worry…"

"Qohar, your grace."

"Don't worry Qohar, people make mistakes. Just don't make the same mistake again, men of similar ranking as me are not known to be lenient."

"Of course your grace, of course. Well, here is the Bank Manager's office, I do believe they are expecting you."

"Thank you Qohar and I hope you take my advice seriously."

"I will, your grace."

King Jameson confidently knocked on the door before walking in. The room was impressive, being tall enough to house a giant. There was large Myrish glass windows looking outwards with a view of the Titan and the bustling Harbor. Unlike other businesses, the Iron Bank was not run by one person solely. It was upheld by five people and instead of having separate offices, they had one large impressive room. When they saw King Jameson walk in they all stood up.

"King Jameson, nice to see you again. These must be your family members! You are as beautiful as ever, Queen Shraey. And of course your children, the first ones to break the classic Stark look in a century. I must say your grace, you seemed to have raised them well." said the lead bank manager, while looking at the children. "When we received your message requesting for this meeting, we were all pondering why?"

"When the Starks first help the founding of the Iron Bank, King Benjen Stark said that you may use our currency and loans in return that the Iron Bank give special bonus to House Stark."

"And we have been doing that for centuries."

"That was not why I am here. There was something else. You also swore that once you had a high enough reputation, you would open a branch in Wintercity. You have become the strongest and most popular bank in the known world. I ask you hold your end of the bargain. I know that the Lannisters, Arryns, and the Gardeners have approached you for the same thing."

"Ah very well. Please sit down and we can iron out the details right now. Although, perhaps your children and Queen Shraey would like to see Braavos instead?"

"Thank you Bank Manager Griphook." said King Jameson, before turning to his family members "Everybody but Brandon can leave and see the city if you want. Brandon, the Iron Bank is a very important ally of House Stark. I need you to remain, watch, and learn."


End file.
